Choices
by Stormhawk fan SHhype
Summary: The choices you make can have a lasting impact on not just you're own life, but the lives of those around you, this was a lesson Starling learned the hard way when she was just a young teen. Now, years later, those choices are coming back to haunt her, a decision she made that changed all of Atmos and its history, as well as the lives of her, the Storm Hawks, and Master Cyclonis
1. Chp1: The Bird that got away

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to, having said that**

 **Hello and welcome, my name is Stormhawk fan SHhype, this is my first piece of fan work so please try to be nice, however I' am completely open to constructive criticism, so yea fire away with that. I would also like to apologies to any who have already read this story and found no Authors note and were expecting one, again, I'm new at this and didn't no how the Author's note section worked, from this point forward I will ensure that I make a small note at minimum both before and after each chapter.**

 **With that out of the way, I would now like to present my story, as you've probably guessed this is a Starling and Cyclonis story, please note, THIS IS NOT A SHIP! I do not ship these two characters, but the story IS about them, with Piper acting as a high level secondary character and the other members of the Storm Hawks having varying levels in the support character category. For those wondering about a time placement in the series, it's somewhere between the episode with the Nil crystal - that the Storm Hawks use to heal Aerrow and that Master Cyclonis subsequently steals to repair the holo-picture of her and her Grandmother - and the end of the second season. Essential this makes this story my, "How it should have ended" version of the Storm Hawks, as wherever you insert it, anything after that in the show, stops being Canon for the purposes of this story.**

 **In addition, there will be a few OC's joining us in this story, some of them you will be introduced to in the next chapter, however, only ONE of these characters has _had_ any impact on the story, and I'm going to let you guys try to decipher that little tib-bit on your own ; P. However, I've rambled long enough, you came here to read a story so lets get started, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and girls, dear readers all, it gives me great pleasure to present to you this story, so sit back, relax, grab a drink (maybe some popcorn) and enjoy, this, is Choices  
**

Choices

Chapter 1: The Bird that got away

The unnamed Terra flashed with light as crystal shots flew back and forth, on one side, the Storm Hawks, aided by Starling of the Interceptors, on the other, the Talons of Cyclonia led by Master Cyclonis herself. The mission had been to recon the Terra, after reports indicated a high level of Talon activity in the area, Starling had been the one to bring the mission to them, and had volunteered to join them because of how little they knew of what the Cyclonians were planning, as well as how quiet they had been lately.

At first the mission had been going straightforward enough, they had even found a Cyclonian outpost/listening station that was keeping tabs on Atmosia's ship activity, then Cyclonis had shown up, and things had gone downhill from there. Starling had insisted that they capture Cyclonis and bring her back to Terra Atmosia for trial. The Storm Hawks had been reluctant at first, Cyclonis outmatched each and every one of them, but Starling stated that if they all worked together, as one, they'd be able to bring her down, adding that this might be their best chance to end the war. Aerrow, Piper and the others finally agreed, but one stroke of bad luck later and they were thrown into the fight of their lives, one of the Talons had spotted Finn after the marksmen had stumbled while trying to reach his position, the ambush foiled, the team had to go for a direct attack.

Now however they were on the clock, the Talons had quickly sent off a distress signal after Piper had launched a leech crystal at the parked skimmers, first draining them of their energy and then exploding causing heavy damage to the vehicles, grounding the Cyclonians, soon enough though, the Skyknights knew that Cyclonian Battle Cruisers would be arriving at the Terra, they needed to be _gone_ by the time they arrived. Finn, Junko, Piper and Radar were taking care of the Talons, leaving Aerrow and Starling to face Cyclonis, who was squaring off against them.

"Well, here we are again, different setting, but this is _oh_ so familiar," Cyclonis said with a smirk

Starling flourished her nun-chucks around her before pointing them at Cyclonis "You won't escape this time Witch; you're going to answer for what you've done." Aerrow had heard this kind of talk from Starling before, but for some reason, today it seemed, _off_ , as if she were forcing the words out. Nevertheless though, he nodded and took a step forward

"Just Surrender Cyclonis, there's nowhere for you to run," he stated

Cyclonis's lips became half smirk half teeth bearing "You think I'd give up just like that, oh no Aerrow, today, I'm finally going to _destroy_ the meddlesome Storm Hawks, and finish what that idiot Repton started!"

At the mention of Repton – the Raptor responsible for killing Starling's old Squadron the Interceptors – Starling leaped forward a roar of primal _fury_ escaping her throat, nun-chucks whirling above her head. Having no choice but to follow her in Aerrow was right behind her. Cyclonis just smiled as her enemies rushed towards her, when they were just a few feet away, Cyclonis activated her shield crystal, Starling and Aerrow ran right into it and were sent flying. Both righted themselves in mid air and landed neatly on their feet, but the action had given Cyclonis enough time to discard her cloak and leave her standing in her Combat jumpsuit, as well as ready her staff for battle.

Lowering her stance and leveling her staff at them, Cyclonis sent them a mocking grin, before gesturing them to come at her again. Starling growled with frustration, but there was no headlong rush this time, instead, Starling began slowly circling Cyclonis, Aerrow mirrored her, moving round the opposite side of Cyclonis, splitting her attention to two fronts would force her to divide her concentration while ensuring Aerrow and Starling weren't getting in each others way. It was a common tactic used against opponents who were more powerful, or stronger, hitting them from two different sides; Cyclonis was expecting it though and made the first move.

She swung her staff towards Aerrow, letting off a lightning bolt that if it touched him would cause him immense pain, then death by electrocution, Aerrow showed his skill however as he sidestepped the projectile, however he failed to see the standard crystal shot that Cyclonis had fired behind her lightning bolt. It hit him square in the chest and caused him to stagger and winded him, as this happened Starling rushed Cyclonis again, but the Master's staff came round fluidly to block the aggressive attack.

Cyclonis smirked at Starling between their weapons "Like I said on Cyclonia, 'you're good' too bad you're on the wrong side!" she growled as she sent an energy blast coursing through her staff which blasted Starling backwards, her feet skidding on the ground. Aerrow, having gotten his breath back now attacked, lunging through the air, his twin blades swiping downward, Cyclonis flowed away from his attack like water, and proceeded to do the same around him and ended up behind him. She slammed the heel of her hand into Aerrow's back, adding a kick of crystal energy to the attack; Aerrow went flying forward and straight into Starling who braced herself, the impact still sent both of them into the dirt.

Cyclonis began advancing towards them when a shout came from behind her "Heh _Lark_ , over here!"

Cyclonis sighed "Piper, ready for a rematch already?" she said as she slowly turned to face her one time friend, the dark skinned, blue haired Skyknight glared at her with fierce Amber eyes. Several months ago, Cyclonis had infiltrated the _Condor_ – the Storm Hawks ship – in order to try and recruit Piper to her cause. Needless to say it hadn't worked and ended with the two of them fighting on Terra Tundras, while the rest of the Storm Hawks had battled a squadron of invisible Talons. No one had _really_ won the fight, Aerrow, Finn, Junko, Stork and Radar had successfully beaten back the Talons, and though Cyclonis had fled the battle, she hadn't – as was evidenced by future encounters – used even a full fraction of her complete power on Terra Tundras, leaving the Storm Hawks to wonder how they would _ever_ defeat her, as the ruler of Cyclonia seemed to outclass _all_ of them.

Still, Piper stared her nemesis down with a fiery determination that she was already famous for "You going to stick around to _finish_ the fight this time, _best friend_?"

That got under her skin, Piper saw an almost infinitesimal twitch in Cyclonis's right eye, Cyclonis _hated_ losing, particularly to Piper, and running from a fight was just as bad in her opinion, "Unlike last time Piper, I _won't_ be holding back!"

Cyclonis leapt through the air, bringing her staff down in a vicious strike as crystal energy sparked around it. Piper dodged to the side, then sent her own crystal shot at the Cyclonian queen. Cyclonis easily deflected the attack, she was then charging Piper again and this time their staves came together with a clang and flurry of sparks as the crystal energy in the weapons collided with one another. Suddenly a shadow passed over them and Piper gave a shove before darting away, Cyclonis turned to see Aerrow, performing his lightning strike move, she was just able to raise her shield in time to absorb the attack, upon lowering it Starling charged in nun-chucks whirling through the air. Cyclonis leapt away, trying to get as much space as she could before halting Starling's charge with a crystal blast that forced her to dodge and killed her momentum. Cyclonis stood to face all _three_ of her opponents now, and noticed that Junko and Finn were finishing off the last of her Talons, leaving her alone with the five Skyknights.

"Five VS one, that hardly seems fair, and I thought you Skyknights fought with honor?" Cyclonis mocked, she wasn't _actually_ worried they might beat her, she was the most powerful crystal mage of her generation, she could take on five opponents at once, it just wasn't advisable. She'd tire eventually; all they had to do was tag team and wear her down.

"Like you've ever fought fair in the past," Piper countered, giving Cyclonis a glare that wouldn't have been out of place on the monarch's own face

Cyclonis just smirked at her as Aerrow once again delivered his ultimatum "Surrender Cyclonis, this is over, you have no forces to protect you now and you can't last against five opponents at once."

Cyclonis's smirk faltered, she knew he was right, but that didn't mean she was going to give up. Suddenly a buzz of static from a nearby radio caught their attention "Master Cyclonis, this is the Dark Ace, we picked up you're distress signal, we're five minutes out, making all haste to your position."

The smirk returned, almost as quickly as it faded "Looks like I won't be alone for long," with that she leapt towards the weakest links in the group facing her, Finn and Junko. The marksmen dived for cover, while Junko stood his ground, Cyclonis easily bashed him aside with a crystal blast, she then sent a small lightning bolt Finn's  
way, hitting him square in the behind causing him to begin spasming on the ground, he'd be fine in a bit, but it was safe to say he was in a lot of pain right now.  
Aerrow, Starling and Piper moved to try and cut Cyclonis off and it became a race to the edge of the Terra, away in the distance a small spec could be seen, Dark Ace's Cyclonian Cruiser. Just as Cyclonis reached the edge however, another ship appeared, this one _, much_ closer, it was the _Condor_ , rising up out of the clouds next to the Terra, cutting Cyclonis off from her reinforcements, Stork at the helm. Cyclonis slid to a halt at the edge of the Terra, behind her Aerrow, Piper and Starling did the same, cutting off all escape routes as they did so.

"That's far enough Witch!" Starling growled as she advanced on Cyclonis

Cyclonis slowly turned to face Starling, reading her staff for another confrontation, then suddenly, her eyes widened, and she stared at Starling intently "No, it can't be," she breathed

Starling didn't wait for her to recover, in a single strike she had lashed out with her nun-chucks and disarmed the Cyclonian Queen, the staff clattering across the ground, while Cyclonis herself hit the ground hard, mere feet from the edge of the Terra. Starling then raised her nun-chucks over her head, intending to knock Cyclonis out, but as she prepared to do so, Cyclonis spoke in a whisper that only Starling could hear "Is it really you?"

Starling froze, staring down at Cyclonis, a look of terror, dread, but also hope displayed on her face, "Starling, what are you waiting for!?" Aerrow cried

The words were enough to break the spell, but Cyclonis acted first, she kicked out at Starling winding her, and then reached out for her staff, which flew back to its master. Piper and Aerrow attempted to stop her, but her shield saved her yet again, before the sound of skimmer engines filled the air. Cyclonis looked back past the _Condor_ to see the Dark Ace and a squad of elite Talons had arrived ahead of the cruiser. "Looks like my ride is here, better luck next time, _Skyknights_!" the last was said with a pointed glare at Starling, before she leapt backwards off the Terra, Dark Ace dived down, and came up moments later with Cyclonis safely seated on the back of his skimmer, before turning and heading back to the cruiser, the Talons acting as both escort and shield.

Starling slowly stood, watching the Queen and her minions depart, Finn and Junko joined them, while Radar hopped onto his usual perch, which was Aerrow's shoulder "We shouldn't stay here, she'll want payback, and now she has the forces to do it," Starling said, in a voice totally devoid of emotion

Aerrow and Piper looked at one another, they both had questions about what just happened, but it could wait for the de-brief, right now, it was best they make themselves scarce "Storm Hawks, back aboard the _Condor_ , we need to leave," no one argued against the order, and after a brief landing to get the squadron and their rides on board, the _Condor_ , took off, in the opposite direction to the Cyclonians. As they left however, Starling couldn't stop staring at the cruiser, even after it was lost from sight, a single thought weighing on her mind _you_ _ **do**_ _remember me, but what memories are they?_

 **Okay, everyone who likes mysteries, put your hands in the air ; )  
**

 **I made some adjustments to the dialogue on the advice of my first reviewer, Clockwork Orange, Author of one of my Fav stories on this site titled "Infinity stone", if you haven't read his/her story yet, go do so NOW, it's a great story and Clockwork has recently started working on it again to bring it to a successful conclusion, please give him/her lots of love and support from me, thx ; )**

 **As for Chapter 2, it will be up when it is DONE, not before, so until then, you guys are just going to have to wait in suspense, so long for now, and I hope to see you guys in the next chapter ; )**


	2. Chp2: Secrets

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **Hello all and welcome back to chapter 2, not going to ramble as long this time just repeat a few things, this is a Starling and Cyclonis story, BUT NOT A SHIP, Piper will play a main role but that is still to come, the first two of our OC's will be joining us this chapter, and as always, constructive criticism is welcomed.**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, dear readers all, welcome back to Choices**

* * *

Chapter 2: Secrets

When it came, Starling was expecting it, the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her, she sighed as she turned around. The Storm Hawks were gathered behind her, Junko and Finn were shuffling nervously, Stork stood at his controls, and occasionally he would glance at them out the corner of his eye. Piper and Aerrow were standing directly in front of her, both looking concerned. Aerrow opened his mouth to speak, but Starling beat him to it

"I don't want to talk about it, I messed up ok, let's just please leave it at that," she said as she walked past them on her way to the living quarters

The Storm Hawks watched her pass; Aerrow finally found his voice "What did she say to you?"

Starling halted at the door as Aerrow continued "I saw her say something to you, but I couldn't hear it over the _Condor's_ engines. So, what was it, what did she say?"

For several moments no one moved, all eyes on Starling, then she looked back over her shoulder, "My squad, she said something about my squad, it caught me off guard, don't worry, I won't let it happen again." With that Starling left the room, the others all turned to look at Aerrow

"Stork, plot a course back to Atmosia, we need to give our report to the council," Aerrow finally said

Stork nodded and began to make his course adjustments "Everyone else, back to your posts, and get ready for our arrival, I want the _Condor_ ship shape by the time we arrive." Aerrow didn't usually give that order, Piper knew it was his way of giving everyone something to do, so as the other's dispersed, she followed Aerrow – Radar ever present on his shoulder – out into the corridor

She was just about to speak when, "She'll tell us when she's ready."

"I know, I'm just worried about her, I've never seen Starling react that way to anything before," Piper replied

Aerrow sighed before looking back round at Piper "Me neither," he said, before walking off to his quarters

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile_**

Cyclonis stood on the deck of the Cruiser, staring at the section of the horizon where the condor had disappeared, this encounter had been _way_ too close, had Dark Ace not arrived in such a timely fashion, she would now be aboard the _Condor_ , a prisoner of the Skyknights. What she kept coming back to however, was how she had froze when the Skyknight Starling had advanced on her, and the way Starling had froze when Cyclonis had whispered her question, the look of utter terror and dread on the Skyknight's face. As the thoughts swirled around and around in Cyclonis's mind, a memory from the past arose, _dark hair, green eyes, the feeling of warm arms, holding her safe_ , as the memory played through her mind, Cyclonis felt tears brimming in her eyes.

"Master Cyclonis are you okay?" came a voice from behind her

"Yes, I'm fine!" Cyclonis snapped rather unnecessarily, as she blinked her tears away

"Shall we give chase Master?" Dark Ace asked, unfazed by her outburst, he'd gotten used to them over the last few months, what with the defeats the Storm Hawks kept handing them, so he didn't think it out of place, they had after all just destroyed what would have been a very useful and well hidden outpost.

"No, leave them; get us back to Cyclonia, now!" Cyclonis ordered as she turned on her heel and marched out of the bridge, the picture of an intimidating Empress, even for her 15 years

Dark Ace and the Captain of the ship both bowed as she left "Of course Master Cyclonis, right away."

Once Cyclonis had left the bridge she made directly for the Captain's quarters, which he had graciously given up for her use. Once inside and the door locked, Cyclonis finally stopped holding back the tears that had been building. In a matter of seconds, she went from the intimidating ruler of an Empire, to a sobbing girl, and collapsed on the bed. She was exhausted from the fight, both physically and emotionally. After her tears had ebbed, she began to _really_ think about what she had seen, she'd met Starling before of course, during the first encounter with the Storm Hawks, Starling had arrived to help them – apparently having been in disguise on Cyclonia for months – the two of them had even fought, but that had been a brief encounter, and Cyclonis had been preoccupied with preventing Aerrow from sabotaging the Storm Engine. This time however she had had a chance to _study_ the purple haired Skyknight, and those emerald eyes.

Cyclonis suddenly felt her heart lurch as the fresh memory came to the forefront of her mind, _those eyes, were so familiar, and if her suspicions were right, then_ _ **why?**_ _Why did she have the same eyes as-_ Cyclonis's head suddenly flared in pain as a brutal headache assaulted her. Cyclonis pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead, kneading the headache out, by the time it had left; her line of thought had been lost. Cyclonis shook herself, _perhaps it was just a coincidence, I need to focus on the war effort, if I get a chance, I will qu-_ _ **Interrogate**_ _her about it_. Cyclonis took a deep breath and lay back staring at the bulkhead ceiling, _even if it isn't her,_ _ **where**_ _did you go, and_ _ **why**_ _?_

* * *

 ** _Terra Atmosia_**

Starling and the Storm Hawks stood in the council chambers on Terra Atmosia, where they'd been summoned upon their return for a mission de-brief. While the mission _had_ been a success – the Cyclonian outpost discovered and subsequently destroyed – the Council had already learned of the attempted capture of Master Cyclonis, _attempted_ being the key word. As a result, Starling and each of the Storm Hawks now felt they were back in school after causing trouble and were facing their teachers; finally the head of the Council, a grey haired man in half rimmed spectacles spoke.

"Now that we've had a chance to read your reports there are a few things we need to address," the Storm Hawks braced themselves for the worst

"Commander Aerrow, the mission was originally to _recon_ the Terra and confirm the Cyclonian presence, this was explained to you by Commander Starling," it wasn't a question merely a statement looking for confirmation

"That's correct sir," Aerrow replied

"However, upon your return we discover that not only has the presence been confirmed, but also removed, and that you attempted to bring in Master Cyclonis, only to have her escape," the Councillor continued

"Yes sir," Aerrow again replied, his face and voice betraying no emotion

"Tell us Commander, what possessed you to take on Master Cyclonis, _alone_?"

Aerrow opened his mouth to speak, but Starling beat him to it, "I convinced him sir, capturing Cyclonis was my idea, and I also made the mistake of letting her get away, it's my fault and I claim full responsibility."

Both the Council and the Storm Hawks stared at Starling, the former in shock, the latter in amazement and gratitude, "Really, Commander Starling," the head of the Council replied after shaking of his shock, to which Starling only nodded before continuing

"The Storm Hawks – with me accompanying them – performed the mission to the letter and were all set to pull out and report back when Cyclonis arrived. I then convinced them that we should try and capture her and bring her back to Atmosia for trial in order to bring about a swift end to the war. We were almost successful, but I let my guard down and as a result, Cyclonis got away, rescued by the Dark Ace. In the process of trying to capture Cyclonis, the Cyclonian outpost was destroyed." After Starling had finished the room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop, and for a while it stayed that way, then the four Council members began quietly talking amongst themselves, the tension in the air rising, finally, the Council turned back to the assembled Skyknights.

"With that being the case, Storm Hawks, you are to be commended for a job well done," the head of the Council informed, the Storm Hawks let out a collective breath of relief

Then the councillor continued "Storm Hawks, you are now dismissed, again job well done, I hope this trend of successful missions continues,"

The Storm Hawks all saluted, "Thank you sir, we won't disappoint you," Aerrow replied, to which all four members of the Council nodded before the Storm Hawks turned smartly and began to leave the room, Starling, initially made to go with them, but was stopped as the Councillor continued

"Commander Starling, we did not dismiss you, we would like to have a word in private," all of the Storm Hawks looked back at their friend, their faces showing varying stages of worry

Starling simply nodded to them to leave "Go on, I'll catch up," she mouthed to them, before turning back to face the Council

"Come on guys," Aerrow said as he and his squad filed out

After the Storm Hawks left, the Council turned all its attention to Starling, "Commander, we have some concerns about this," the head of the Council began

"Believe me Councillors I understand, but they are unfounded," Starling replied standing at attention in front of them

"How do we know, that you're loyalties have not changed, that you didn't _let_ her get away?" one of the members to the right of the head of the Council asked

"For one, you have my service record; it speaks for itself _and_ my loyalties," Starling began "A whole year undercover where I had _every_ chance to betray Atmos thrown at me, and yet here I' am. Secondly, you have the Storm Hawks, they witnessed what happened, and while yes, I will admit to hesitating, even freezing up, it was not something I _intended_ , why would I even suggest to capture Cyclonis anyway if my intentions were to _let_ her get away, and before you say to assuage suspicion, the Storm Hawks only know me as a friend and comrade." As Starling finished she stared up at the Council with hard green eyes, daring them to find some fault in her argument

For a while, no one spoke, the two sides just staring one another down. If an outsider were to witness the discussion, they might say there was some long standing animosity between Starling and the Council. Not quite at hate levels, but certainly a lot of friction and general dislike, which would have been surprising, as Starling was considered the Golden Girl of the Skyknights, the most highly decorated Skyknight of her generation. Nevertheless, this was the state between them, at least in private.

Finally the head of the Council spoke, "Do you intend to tell them any time soon?" he asked

Starling blinked, of all the responses she had come up with in her head _that_ had not been one of them, it didn't take her long to recover though "I've been considering it more and more lately, they are my friends after all, and they deserve to know, I've just been trying to figure out _how_."

The head of the Council nodded, stroking his goatee as he considered his next words, "Might I suggest you do it soon, before Cyclonis figures out who you _really_ are and tells _all_ of Atmos," he replied, to which Starling simply nodded, she might not _like_ the Council, but that didn't mean she ignored their advice, she'd made one too many mistakes in her life to afford that kind of arrogance

"Is that all?" Starling then asked, the Councillors all looked at one another, silent words being exchanged between them, then the head of the Council turned back and nodded. Starling saluted, spun on her heel and marched out

As she left, one of the Council members leaned closer to their leader, and spoke so only the four of them could hear "we always put a lot of trust in that girl, even though we know it could backfire on us."

The other two members of the Council nodded their agreement, but their leader just sat stroking his goatee, "She said it herself," he began "She's had _every_ opportunity to betray us, and yet, she's still here, with us. Besides, Commander Traven saw something in her, gave her a chance, and look what she's done with it, all these years and its one success after another." He sighed at this point, "Even so, something tells me that her journey will not end well for her, but there's not much we can do about that, except clean up when it's over," as he finished the doors to the Council chambers shut, the sound echoing around the room.

The Storm Hawks all stood as Starling emerged from the Council chambers, Piper was the first to come forward, "Starling, you ok, they didn't suspend you or anything, did they?" she asked, worried for her friend

Starling just gave them a wry smile "No Piper they didn't, just had to clear a few things up that's all."

The Storm Hawks let out another collective sigh of relief, then Aerrow straightened and cleared his throat "Well, with that out the way, what do say we go hang out, maybe find a place to eat, I don't know about you guys but I could use a little R&R after that mission?" he said with a smile to which everyone else began supporting

"Sorry guys, but I have to head back to Terra Mesa, there's some things I need to take care of," you could just see the Storm Hawks deflate at her words, it wasn't often they got to hang out with Starling just as friends. Starling took pity on them though, and as she did, an idea came to her, "Tell you what, why don't you guys come to Terra Mesa in a couple of days, we can hang out then, maybe do some training, and a game or two of keep-away?"

The reaction was immediate as each of the Storm Hawks (with the exception of Stork) perked up at this, "You're on," Aerrow said smiling, the others all nodding

"Great, I'll see you in a couple days then," Starling said, before heading off and waving back to them as she made her way outside to her skimmer. Once back in the air, Starling began thinking about the idea she had, and the Councillor's words of advice to her, _he's right, I have to tell them, and soon_. Then she focused on her flying and set a course for home

* * *

 ** _Terra Cyclonia_**

Cyclonis sat at her desk, staring into space, in her mind's eye, all she could see were those emerald eyes, and they were taunting her. In front of her was a holo-picture, like the one of her and the previous Master Cyclonis, her grandmother, Anarchis Cyclonis. This one however depicted more people, in this holo-picture Cyclonis was a baby in her grandmother's arms, her grandmother was seated on a chair, resplendent in her royal regalia. Standing next to her was Cyclonis's father, a tall regal man with a strong jaw line and neatly styled dark hair, dressed in a dark violet version of the Cyclonian military uniform, dark violet eyes, like those of his mother seated next to him (Cyclonis's grandmother) staring straight ahead. It was the person in front of her father though that Cyclonis was most interested in, unlike every other person in the picture – including Cyclonis herself – this person did not have dark Violet eyes, but emerald ones. She shared the same dark hair and pointed chin that both Cyclonis and her grandmother had, but the eyes were so different. Cyclonis stared at her, trying to burn the image of her face into her mind, while at the same time, trying to recall every detail of Skyknight Starling's face. _They do look similar, but I wish we had a more recent picture of her, the age difference is too great for me to be sure_ , Cyclonis thought to herself, _on the other hand though, she_ _ **would**_ _be Starling's age about now, and those eyes, their just so-_ once again Cyclonis's head _flared_ in pain, she grit her teeth and grasped her hair while pressing her hands against her forehead. When she looked back up at the holo-picture, pain gone, she made a decision, _I_ _ **have**_ _to get to the bottom of this, it's not going to leave me alone unless I do, and I know who_ _ **might**_ _be able to give me the answers I'm looking for, she isn't going to be particularly happy to see me though_.

* * *

 ** _Terra Mesa_**

Starling flew in over the Terra, noting with some satisfaction that all seemed well, as the only Interceptor left, the burden of protecting the Terra had fallen solely on _her_ shoulders. Not an easy burden by any means, but Starling bore it well, and the citizens of Terra Mesa were no strangers to hardship and danger. That said, as the people saw Starling return, a chorus of cheers erupted from the town below her, Starling gave a smile and wave as she passed by, making for the Manor house that stood on the hill overlooking the town. As she touched down, tires squealing as she applied the brakes, a butler, dressed in the stereotypical black and white butler outfit emerged from the front door to stand at the top of the stairs leading up to it.

"Welcome home Miss Starling," the Butler greeted warmly

Starling smiled back "Thank you Michael, is Ana home?" Starling asked as she put her ride in park and ascended the stairs

Michael stood to one side and gestured into the house "She is, at present I believe she is in the conservatory enjoying a spot of tea,"

Starling nodded her thanks and began making her way to the conservatory, "Will you be staying long Miss?" Michael called after her

Starling shook her head "No, I have some things I need to take care of, I just came to say 'hi', maybe get some advice," Starling replied. Michael nodded, and closed the front doors, before heading off to the kitchens to grab and extra tea cup

Starling entered the conservatory, it was a well lit room at the back of the house overlooking a terraced garden that sat near the edge of the Terra, it was your typical conservatory, lots of potted plants and chairs, with coffee tables positioned between them. Seated in one of those chairs was an elderly woman in her 70's, she was quietly sipping tea while staring at the clouds drifting by the Terra, "You know you don't have to wait for permission, it's your house too remember," the woman said, as she looked over her shoulder to smile at Starling. She had a kind face that hadn't been too weathered by age, her years were showing, but she still had an energy about her that was young, her hair was grey, but full, and she had soft brown eyes that now looked Starling over, just as they had, the first day she had entered this house, now as then, there was no hostility or distrust, only kindness and compassion.

Starling smiled, as she fully entered the conservatory, going over to the woman and hugging her, "It's been too long Ana, I'm sorry about that,"

Ana sighed, "My dear girl you have nothing to be sorry for, you have a lot of responsibilities after all."

Starling broke the hug as she sat down in the seat next to Ana; Michael then came in with an extra tea cup and saucer, setting them down before taking the nearby teapot and pouring some tea. Once done, Starling took the cup and brought it up to her lips taking a sip "Mmh, I needed that, thank you Michael." Michael just nodded before clearing away some unwanted bits and leaving the two of them to talk

"So, Starling, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Ana asked

"It's that obvious?" Starling asked with a small smile

Ana chuckled, "My dear, I could read you like a book, I can tell something is bothering you, why else, would you come back to visit an old woman who only reminds you of your adopted father, and that he is no longer here to drink tea with us?"

Starling gave a wry smile at that, before her face fell. It had been two years since her adopted father; Commander Traven of the Interceptors had died, killed by Repton and his Raptors, along with the rest of her squadron. Ana was Traven's mother and had practically raised Starling, while Traven and the Interceptors had been off defending the Terra or aiding Atmos in its ongoing struggle with Cyclonia. After some time Starling had practically _begged_ Traven to train her as a Skyknight, at which point she had begun spending more time with them and less with Ana, even so, Starling had made a point to always visit whenever she could, both before and after her squadron was killed.

Starling now took a breath "You remember me telling you about the Storm Hawks the last time I was here?" she asked

Ana nodded "yes, I remember, what about them, has something happened?"

"No, nothing's happened, not unless you count almost capturing Cyclonis only for her to slip through my fingers," Starling replied. Ana studied Starling for several moments, observing her tense body language

"You're frustrated, you came so close and it got away from you, but that is nothing new, so what is it?" Ana finally said

Starling sighed "I've been thinking of telling them, only I'm _terrified_ about how they'll respond."

Understanding dawned as Ana nodded and put down her tea cup, "I see, you really think it's time?"

Starling just nodded, not trusting herself to speak, "Do you trust them?"

Starling nodded at the question "With my life," she replied

"Do they trust you?"

Starling bit her lip before replying "Yes, but I don't know if they still will after I tell them, I mean when they find out that I'm-"

Ana interrupted with a wave of her hand "That doesn't matter, none of it does, all they've ever known you as is Starling, that's how they see you, if their truly your friends, then something trivial such as _where_ and to _whom_ you were born won't matter, what matters is the person you are right now, the person you have been, ever since you came to us."

Starling looked up at Ana, smiling, no matter what, Ana always found a way to cheer her up, lift her spirits, or put her mind at rest. The elderly woman smiled kindly back, before picking up her tea cup again "Now my dear, why don't you tell me about your day, and how you intend to tell your friends, and we'll see if we can't improve on your idea."

* * *

 **Well there you have it for this chapter, yea I know I keep interrupting what could be some revealing stuff, but I still thinking I'm making it pretty obvious**

 **Anyway, if you like this story so far please leave a review, as I said up top constructive** **criticism is welcome and I will see you guys in the next chapter : )  
**


	3. Chp3: Piper Investigates

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **Hello all and welcome back to Choices, to start I want to clear up any confusion about my use of italics in this, single or a few words in italics are words with emphasis placed on them e.g. _kind of._ Longer uses of italics without quotation marks are a character saying something inside their head, while italics WITH quotation marks are spoken words with some kind of modification to them, like what will happen between Cyclonis and Piper later, you'll see when you get there. **

**Second, this is the Chapter where - as the title suggests - Piper will be taking a more central role to the story, we also find out some interesting things in this chapter so keep your eyes peeled and your mind open**

 **Finally I just want to say thank you to those who have reviewed and that as always I' am completely open to constructive criticism, with that out of the way, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, dear readers all, welcome back to Choices**

* * *

Chapter 3: Piper Investigates

 _Terra Atmosia_

Piper woke bright and early in order to get ready for the day. With the Storm Hawks official R&R time slot set for tomorrow on Terra Mesa Piper wanted to use the time to get some more of the logistical jobs done before they had to go back into combat. Junko and Finn were going to be performing maintenance and tuning on both the _Condor_ and the team's rides, with Stork overseeing the entire thing, while Aerrow was spending the day either training or meeting with other Commanders who were currently on the Terra to discuss the current situation regarding the conflict with Cyclonia. Meanwhile, Piper would be ordering supplies and rations to be delivered to the _Condor_ first thing tomorrow morning, so after going through her normal morning routine she headed to the kitchen for breakfast before heading out. Upon arrival she was _kind of_ surprised to see Finn sitting at the kitchen table, asleep

"Finn, what are you doing!?" Piper admonished, "You have a bed remember!"

Piper's outburst caused Finn to jolt awake, when he saw who it was he sagged back in the chair looking exhausted, "Oh, heh Piper, sorry, I had trouble sleeping last night, I came in here to get a cup of coca, I must have fallen asleep after finishing it," Finn explained, indicating the empty mug sitting on the table, or rather what was left of it. Finn must have knocked it off in his sleep, because the mug was now in pieces on the floor, he looked down at it and the remains of his coca forlornly, before his face scrunched up in pain, a hand going to his back as he leaned over the table again.

Piper's annoyed look was quickly replaced with concern, "Finn, are you okay?" she asked as she walked around the table to where Finn was sitting

Finn groaned as his forehead came in contact with the metal surface of the table "Not really, my back started to hurt around yesterday evening and nothing I've done has helped, I think I might have pulled something during that fight with Cyclonis, probably when she zapped me."

Piper felt a swell of pity for her squad mate; Finn always did seem to be the one who ended up the most hurt, the most _often_ , then a thought came to her "Stay right there, I'll be right back," with that she hurried out of the kitchen and back to her room, she came back a few moments later and handed Finn a card "Here, take this, their address is on the card, go there and they'll get you all fixed up, and don't worry about your chores, your health is more important."

Finn frowned, then looked at the card "Professional Chiropractors, treats all back and neck injuries, half price for Skyknights!?" he said taken aback before looking at Piper who was busy getting breakfast

"Their very good," Piper began, "Got lots of recommendations, I go there at least once if there's a chance to every time we're on the Terra,"

"But Piper, even at half price, I don't have the money for this!" Finn exclaimed, though he was careful about it, so as not to agitate his back

"Just tell them I sent you and to put your session on my tab," Piper replied, waving it off as she took a bite of toast

Finn now stared at her incredulously "That's, _really_ generous Piper, _too_ generous, I can't accept, plus I promised Junko I'd help him with the tune ups,"

Piper rolled her eyes "You can't help with your back in its current condition, and your combat skills will suffer too, not to mention the long term damage caused by _not_ getting it treated, you could have a serious back injury, so go and don't worry about it, I'll make sure the others know you won't be available for today." Piper explained before finishing her toast

Finn looked at the card, then at Piper, and then sighed before giving one of his trademark Finn smiles "well I guess it's better than sitting here suffering, thanks Piper,"

"You're welcome, now, I have to be off, I'll leave a message for the others but I want to get to the market early so we can get as many supplies as we can," Piper said, getting up and putting her plate in the sink

Finn chuckled "Fair enough, have a good day Piper and thanks again," he replied waving, Piper waved back and then left the kitchen, after writing and leaving a note to explain Finn's absence, Piper headed off to the markets to make some orders for their supplies.

* * *

 _Terra Cyclonia_

Cyclonis looked around her, taking note of each piece of equipment and crystal, making sure everything was where it should be. The arrangement in front of her had taken most of the night to prepare and she had gotten very little sleep as a result, but she couldn't stop now, the _question_ was eating away at her, she _had_ to know, otherwise, it would drive her insane. Taking a deep breath she took a meditation position in the center of the arrangement, she had already ordered her guards that she was not to be disturbed today for anything until further notice, there could be no distractions, the procedure would be straining enough as it was. Sure that she was ready, Cyclonis began using her powers to activate the crystals inserted into the apparatus around her in a precise order that began to amplify her powers, Cyclonis felt the surge of energy fill her body and gave a small smile "Time to speak with an old friend."

* * *

 _Terra Atmosia_

Piper was very pleased with herself, she had gotten to the markets before the morning rush and had been able to place orders for their supplies before the various shops and stalls had begun running out of stock, and got it all done in record time. What would have originally taken half of the day, she had completed by mid morning, and the market was now in full swing with the residents and visitors now up and about, the streets now crowded with people. While they were all making their way into the centre of market, Piper was one of the few making her way out, with her task done so quickly she intended to head back to the _Condor_ and help Junko and Stork with the tune ups, seeing as Finn was out of action. She was just reaching the outer edge of the Market when she heard someone say her name

" _Piper_ ," it was barely a whisper, but Piper still somehow heard it over the hustle and bustle of the market, she began looking around, trying to find the source of the voice, but everyone around her was busy with their own business at the market

" _Piper_ ," the voice said again, drawing Piper's attention over to an alley entrance just outside the market, where she saw Cyclonis leaning nonchalantly against the wall, staring at her

Piper instantly tensed and drew in a breath to warn the people around her, only to be interrupted by Cyclonis " _Don't bother Piper, you're the only one who can see me, and don't worry I'm not here to cause trouble, I just want to talk_."

Piper's mouth snapped shut, taken aback by the honest tone in Cyclonis's voice as she watched the Cyclonian Queen turn and enter the alley, her brow furrowed, and fully expecting a trap of some sort, Piper followed. After following Cyclonis through some tight alleys avoiding various bits of refuse she soon found herself in a more open area that looked as if it served as a draining point as the ground sloped down towards the centre where a large grate lay. On the other side of the area stood Master Cyclonis, facing Piper

"Ok, you've got my attention, now what are you doing here, how come I'm the only one who can see you?" Piper snapped impatiently

Cyclonis had been expecting this reaction, so she was prepared " _There are a lot of secrets about Crystal Magecraft that you don't know Piper_ ," she said smiling in that same whisper like voice

Piper frowned, and then flung her arms up "Ok, keep your secrets then, I'm out of here," she replied turning to go

" _Leave and I will keep coming back, I don't care how long it takes me or what I disrupt in the process, your inexperience means you can't stop me, so the choice is yours, talk now, or be haunted, technically_ ," Cyclonis warned

Piper sighed, she knew Cyclonis wasn't lying, as a Crystal Mage the Cyclonian Queen was far more powerful than her, there was a very good chance she could carry out her threat. Resigning herself to the situation, Piper turned back "Fine, what is it you want?" Piper repeated

" _Listening now are we, good, to answer your question, quite simply, I have questions of my own that I need answers to, and you are the only person who could provide them to me_ ," Cyclonis explained

Piper pulled a face "Yea right, like I'm going to tell you anything that could compromise the Atmos, forget it!"

Cyclonis sighed, " _Its nothing classified, in fact, it's probably the most common information you're likely to find_ ,"

Now Piper was confused, she frowned in suspicion "Ok I'll bite, what is it you want to know?"

Cyclonis looked Piper directly in the eye, and Piper was surprised at the desperation she saw there " _I want you to tell me everything you know about Skyknight Starling, where she came from, how she became an Interceptor, anything and everything... please_."

Piper blinked, she didn't think she had _ever_ heard Cyclonis use the P word before, and she could see that this was eating away at her, a part of Piper argued, _so what, LET her suffer, she's tried to do us in MULTIPLE times, she pretended to be our friend when really she was trying to recruit us to betray our friends, WE DON'T OWE HER A THING!_

But as that voice screamed in her head to deny Cyclonis the information she sought, another voice argued, _it's not classified information though, and if we did let her suffer, how does that make us BETTER than her_.

Piper sighed, "What do you plan to do with this information?" she asked

" _Figure out a mystery, something that's been bothering me ever since our last encounter_ ," Cyclonis replied

Piper blinked as she recalled the way Cyclonis had frozen after they cornered her at the edge of the Terra while Starling had advanced on her, and Piper would be lying if she said that she wasn't curious about the exchange between them. She sighed again, _I'm going to regret this_ , "I don't know much, no one does the most I know is that she was found by the Interceptors about six years ago, orphaned from the war, their Commander, Alexander Traven, took her in and adopted her. She spent the most of the next two years at his family mansion on Terra Mesa, where she was raised by Traven's mother, Ana Traven."

Cyclonis just nodded as Piper spoke while gesturing for her to go on, "About four years ago at the age of 17 she joined the Interceptors as a cadet and they trained her to become a Skyknight, she served alongside them for the better part of the next two years."

Inside Cyclonis's head the gears were turning as she absorbed the information Piper was giving her, "Then about two years ago the entire squadron is ambushed by Repton and his Raptors, every member except Starling was killed, Starling was picked up by another Squadron after having flown for days without pause on her Skyride. She was hurt, De-hydrated and malnourished, she was brought back to Terra Atmosia for recovery and de-brief where the Interceptors fate was made known to the Atmos."

Piper's voice became hard at this part as she glared at Cyclonis, Cyclonis didn't blame her, she remembered giving the order. Back then she had only just been crowned, and she was trying to get things back in line after her Grandmother's death. The Interceptors had been harassing their forces however, so she had snapped at Repton to _deal_ with the situation. She hadn't been any more specific than that, but clearly Repton had taken the mission to heart and had excelled in providing a victory to make himself appear useful, _and all it had taken, was the death of five Skyknights_. For some reason, that information turned Cyclonis's stomach more than she was comfortable with.

Piper then continued "After she had recovered, Starling volunteered for an infiltration mission into Cyclonia, she pestered the Council about it for weeks, finally they gave her permission and she spent the next year undercover in Cyclonia, after that... well we get to your plan with the Storm Engine." Piper finished

Cyclonis blinked, then looked straight at Piper, " _that's it, that can't be it?_ " she said incredulously

Piper just shrugged "like I said, there isn't much information outside of her achievements that she's made since joining the Skyknights, and you didn't ask for that information,"

Cyclonis growled, frustrated, Piper was right of course, and there was a reason she hadn't asked, either Cyclonia knew it already, or it did not pertain to the answers she was seeking, she began to pace, deep in thought. "Well if that's all?" Piper asked uncertainly, Cyclonis started as she realized she hadn't broken the connection

" _Yes yes, fine I'll leave you be, goodbye Piper_ ," Cyclonis said and turned as if to leave

Piper surprised her then however, "one second, I have a couple questions for you," she called

Cyclonis turned back, eyebrow raised, " _what is it?_ "

"First off, why me?" Piper said simply

Cyclonis blinked, " _what do you mean?_ "

"I mean, you could have got this information from the public library, all you would have had to do was come here in disguise and you're no stranger to that, so why go through the trouble of asking me?" Piper explained looking at her quizzically

To Cyclonis's surprise, she couldn't come up with an answer, because Piper was right, why _had_ she chosen this method, why not simply steal the information from where it was kept, it wasn't like it was guarded. As Cyclonis thought about this, a voice in her head spoke, _you miss her, and you wanted to see her again_

Cyclonis turned away to hide the blush of embarrassment that was forming on her cheeks, then she answered the question, " _I guess, despite how we parted ways on Terra Tundras and even with all the rivalry between us, I kind of... missed you_." She said, the words coming straight from the heart, as she said them, she felt another headache begin to form

Piper blinked, not expecting that answer, she had been expecting something to do with trying to recruit her again, but hearing that Cyclonis _missed_ her, Piper's mind shut down from how confused it was right now and she had to shake her head to get back in gear, "Okay then," Piper said awkwardly, then she cleared her throat to ask her second question "secondly, what did you say to Starling about her squad back during our last fight?"

Cyclonis looked back around now very surprised, " _what are you talking about, I never said anything about her squadron_!?" Cyclonis exclaimed

Piper's first thought was to call out Cyclonis as a lair, but when she saw the genuine surprise on her face, she _knew_ Cyclonis was telling the truth, and when that revelation hit her, it hit like a ton of bricks. Starling had _lied_ to them, to her friends, but _why_? The revelation hit Cyclonis about the same time, and before Piper could call her back, she vanished, as if she'd never been there. Piper swore stamping her foot, then the thought she had just had about Starling came back into her mind, _Starling lied to us, to her friends, she's_ _ **never**_ _lied to us before, so if she would lie about something as small as this... what else has she lied to us about?_

* * *

 _Terra Cyclonia_

Cyclonis sat in the middle of the now burned out crystals, the acrid smell of crystal smoke assaulting her nostrils, she ignored it though, as all she could think of was what she had just learned. _The time frame matches, six years, that was when_ _ **she**_ _had disappeared, and now Cyclonis knew it was when Starling had been picked up by the Interceptors, her first_ _ **widely known**_ _appearance in the records, and now she knew that Starling had kept what Cyclonis had said to her as Starling had prepared to strike her a secret from the Storm Hawks,_ _ **why**_ _? What reason would make her do that... unless there was something about her that she was keeping a secret... unless; Cyclonis's theory was_ _ **actually**_ _plausible._ The thought caused the headache – that had begun building when she had confessed her feelings of missing Piper to the girl in question – to come into full force, Cyclonis scrunched up her face and kneaded her forehead as the headache assaulted her, as it did, a dark voice spoke in her head, **_"This is a pointless distraction, we should be focusing on the conquest of Atmos, we can figure this out AFTER that is complete!"_**

Cyclonis gritted her teeth, stretching out her hand towards her desk, a drawer opened and a light blue crystal flew to her hand, once she had it, she clutched it tightly as it glowed brightly, _**"DON'T ignore me, you can't hide from this forever, you've been doing so well until now, no weakness, DON'T RUIN IT NOW!"** _

The blue glow suffused her entire body, focusing on her head, as it enveloped her, the voice grew quiet, and the pain receded. Ever since her Grandmothers death and Cyclonis had been crowned, she had been suffering headaches, sometimes they were small and easy to disperse, other times – _like Terra Tundras_ , Cyclonis thought – they were almost overpowering and she required a healing crystal to banish them. As the pain faded Cyclonis let out the breath she had been holding, letting the crystal fall from her hand, it was now black and smoking itself, _how many was that now, half a dozen, a dozen,_ Cyclonis had lost count. Her mind then turned back to the mystery at hand, _I'm so close to the truth, I can feel it, but I have to be sure, but how, how can I confirm that Starling_ _ **is**_ _who I_ _ **think**_ _she is?_ She sat there puzzling over the problem, then an idea came, and she smiled, _yes_ _ **that**_ _would work_

"Guards!" Cyclonis shouted, she was immediately answered as two Talons burst into the room

"Yes Master Cyclonis!" Both guards answered bowing as they entered

"Have Repton summoned to Cyclonia at once, I want to speak with him!" Cyclonis snapped

"Right away Master Cyclonis!" the Talons exclaimed before quickly retreating from the room to carry out her orders.

* * *

 _Terra Atmosia_

Piper knew she _really_ should be getting back to the ship, but her conversation with Cyclonis was spinning round and round in her head and refused to leave her alone, _this is ridiculous, I'm questioning Starling's loyalty, from_ _ **one**_ _little white lie._ The thought had occurred to her that this had been Cyclonis's plan all along, an attempt to drive Starling and the Storm Hawks apart, but the genuine surprise over Starling's lie stood out against that. Cyclonis had clearly been expecting Starling to tell the truth about what had happened, only that wasn't the case, now the thought that Starling was hiding something from them was eating away at Piper, _kinda understand how Cyclonis was feeling now_ , Piper thought irritably. She looked up again at the building she was standing in front of; it was the public library of Terra Atmosia, in it was a wealth of knowledge, including unclassified records of all Skyknights that had been cleared by the council. All they were was a collection of personal information and past missions that were now old news. As a Skyknight herself, Piper had free access to these records, though the public would have to get permission to view them, still that wasn't hard to get, just had to sign a few forms, Piper however could go straight to where they were kept and find what she was looking for. Piper gritted her teeth and clenched her fists; _I knew I was going to regret this_ , before marching up the stairs and into the building.

It didn't take Piper long to find the area where the files were kept, it took a little longer to find Starling's file however; this was because it was much smaller than Piper had expected. Considering Starling's achievements Piper had expected it to be at least a few inches thick with detailed mission reports, instead it was only a few millimeters thick and contained only the most recent missions Starling had gone on. Piper found the attack on Terra Bogaton, where Starling with the aid of the Storm Hawks had freed the Terradons from the Raptors while Starling had fought Repton one on one, winning the fight and recovering her Squadrons shield, Commander Traven's shield. She also found the Polaris Point Operation, where again, Starling had worked with the Storm Hawks to stop Ravess from completing a massive sonic cannon aimed at disrupting shipping for the free Atmos. There were no reports however about the other missions that Starling had been on, instead, the only other thing Piper found was a report by Commander Traven about finding Starling, as Piper read it she couldn't help but feel like something about the report was off, but she couldn't figure out what.

After that there were some reports detailing her training and the missions she had gone on with the Interceptors... and that was it, Piper frowned, remembering Cyclonis's words, _that can't be_ _ **it**_ _!?_ But there was nothing else, then something hit Piper, a point so obvious but subtle that she had completely missed it earlier, _where's her birth certificate!?_ The file had her adoption papers, but even as an orphan Starling should have had a birth certificate, it was required by law that every birth be recorded as one of the strategies employed by the free Atmos against Cyclonia. If every birth was recorded then the Council would know exactly how much manpower the free Atmos had - it also made it harder for Cyclonia to insert spies into the free Atmos military - but this crucial yet simple addition was _missing_ from Starling's file, _**why!?**_ Suddenly Piper realised what was wrong with the report by Commander Traven, it was written as if there were omissions, she looked at one of the other reports in the file and cross examined the two. The later report was smoother, more flowing, even for a military report, the earlier one in which the Interceptors had found Starling was more awkward to read, like Traven had deliberately left out certain key bits of information, again _**why!?**_ What reason was there, "What is going on here, what were they trying to hide, what are they _still_ trying to hide...? Starling, what aren't you telling us?" Piper whispered to herself.

* * *

 **Once again, who here likes mysteries, come on lets see those hands in the air ; )  
**

 **if you liked this story please leave a review and again constructive** **criticism is welcome, see you guys in chapter 4  
**


	4. Chp4: The Truths we Hide

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **Hello and welcome back all, this chapter is going to be a little longer than the others... oh who am I kidding, it's a fair bit longer than the others, but we do have some things revealed to us, including the very obvious secret I've been trying to keep since the beginning (and failing miserably) still it should be fairly enlightening all the same. Also a small heads up, this chapter gets a little heavy about half way to two thirds in, if this isn't your thing then sorry about that, but it is vital for the story, shouldn't be too bad, it just gets a little emotional.**

 **With that said, Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, dear readers all, welcome back to Chocies**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Truths we hide

Back on the _Condor_ the rest of the Storm Hawks were about to sit down and enjoy dinner. Since Piper wasn't back, Stork was the one cooking, Junko might have been the better cook, but the whole crew agreed that at least they could _stomach_ Stork's cooking, while Junko's cooking tended more towards _traditional_ Wallop dishes. So when Piper returned to the _Condor_ it was to find Stork finishing preparing a large pot of pasta with tomato sauce, she barely noticed however due to her current state of mind and the thoughts running through her head, she was quickly jolted out of it though when Aerrow said her name "Piper your back, what took you so long?"

Piper looked up to see everyone moving to greet her; she quickly had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from giving the guys an immediate and honest answer, _I don't yet know what's going on with Starling, or what she's hiding, it might be nothing, a simple administration error, I don't want to get her in trouble for nothing_. Though these thoughts sounded good, a part of Piper knew they were _dead wrong_ , never the less; this was not something she wanted to discuss with the guys at this point in time. "Sorry guys, things kinda got away from me," Piper replied, trying her best to put on a relaxed, happy smile

The guys saw through her though, they'd been a squad long enough to know when something was bothering her. "Piper what happened?" Aerrow asked, now getting up from the kitchen table, Radar ever present on his shoulder, the others meanwhile stopped what they were doing and focused on her

Piper's mind raced, she couldn't hide that something had happened from them, they'd never believe her, but she _couldn't_ tell them what she had found out about Starling, not yet, not till she knew more. _Maybe I could just tell them about Cyclonis, they'd believe that_ , she took a breath and began "its nothing guys really, I just got a visit from Cyclonis," she did not get the reaction she was hoping for, but she did get the one she was expecting

"Cyclonis are you serious, is she still on the Terra, where is she, you're all right aren't you!?" they all exclaimed at once (the last one surprisingly from Finn)

Piper held up her hands to silence them, then took another breath and began to answer, "Yes I'm serious, no she isn't on the Terra in fact I don't think she ever was, I assume she's still on Cyclonia and yes I'm fine." Piper replied calmly

The guys all looked at one another confused, then Aerrow spoke, "You sure you're all right, I mean Cyclonis could have done something, you know how powerful she is," he stated, a look of concern on his face

Piper nodded, "All too well Aerrow, but I'm fine, I was able to see her off, like I said, I don't think she was ever really here, just casting a projection while focusing on me, trying to throw me off my game I think, or just spite me." She explained with a shrug

"Well I think she succeeded," Stork stated seriously, and while the others said nothing, Piper could see in their eyes that they all agreed

"Really I'm fine, just a little shaken I guess, nothing a hot meal and a good night's sleep won't cure," Piper responded

Again, the guys all looked at one another and for a moment Piper was afraid they would interrogate her further, but then as one, they began to relax. "Ok, we're just glad your back safe, we were starting to get a little worried, and thinking of heading out to look for you," Aerrow said

Piper smiled at that "Thanks guys," she then headed over to Storks pot of pasta, "Mmh, smells good, thanks Stork, I wasn't particularly feeling like cooking this evening, I was just going to suggest we get take out," Piper said as she stood next to the large pot

Stork just smirked, "Well since we're getting fresh food tomorrow, I went through what needed using urgently so we could make some room, and Pasta was all we had left apart from the (cough) emergency rations," Stork replied, a wry smile on his green face at the last part

Piper – nor any of the others – could suppress a shudder at the words _emergency rations_ , which consisted of only one thing, Merb Cabbage, the one thing in the Atmos that even Junko _wouldn't_ eat. Suddenly, Piper was very glad that her day at the market had been so successful even if the rest of it had gone downhill. "Well thanks anyway, looks great, don't mind if I grab a plate and take it to my room do you, it's been a long day," Piper replied

Stork just shrugged, "no skin off my nose, just be sure to bring the plate back so Finn can wash up, he did volunteer after all,"

This stopped Piper in her tracks, _Finn,_ _ **volunteering**_ _to wash up,_ the confusion must have shown on her face because Finn let out a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head, "I know it was for medical reasons and all, but I still felt kinda bad about skipping out on my chores, by the time I got back everything was done, so when Stork said he was gona cook I said I'd wash up all the dishes, pots and pans," Finn explained

Piper just stared at Finn stunned, then she gave him a smile, "Real believer in Karma aren't you,"

Finn just nodded, "with the amount of bad Karma that comes my way, can't afford not to be," he replied, giving one of his trademark Finn smiles as he did

Piper shook her head chuckling as she grabbed her full plate of pasta and sauce, meanwhile the others went back to what they were doing. Piper was just on her way out to her room when a hand caught her shoulder, it was Aerrow "You sure you're okay?" he asked, concern etched on his features

Piper just nodded "I'm fine Aerrow, like I said, a hot meal and a good night's sleep, that's what I need right now," she replied

Aerrow scrutinized her for a moment, then let his hand fall from her shoulder "As long as you're sure, but still, I don't think you should be alone locked in your room," he stated evenly

Piper sighed, apart from a meal and some sleep, the one thing Piper wanted most this evening was a chance to think, she couldn't do that if she was surrounded by her team, then an idea came to her. "If you're that worried, I'd be happy to let Radar keep me company," Piper said

Radar gave a surprised chirp at that while pointing at himself, Aerrow meanwhile just smiled, "not a bad idea, what do you say Radar, will you keep Piper company this evening, don't want her breaking down on us now do we?" Aerrow asked, Radar's ears just drooped as he knew he wasn't getting out of this, he then hopped off Aerrow's shoulder, and got his own plate of pasta before walking past them both and heading for Piper's room

Piper and Aerrow just giggled at his antics "I think we should take that as a yes," Piper said smirking, then her face grew serious, "Thanks Aerrow,"

"No problem Pipes, sleep well and if you need anything, we're all right here for you, remember," Aerrow said, a kind smile on his face

"I know," Piper replied nodding, before following Radar down the hallways to her room

Once the door to her room was safely closed and locked, Piper allowed herself to relax, Radar was too busy eating to notice the change in her as she made her way over to her desk, setting the plate of food on the surface before putting her head in her hands as she sat down. In her head, the things she had discovered during the day swirled round and round, demanding to be heard, Piper squeezed her eyes shut and forced them away, clearing her mind so she could come up with a plan

 _We're going to Terra Mesa tomorrow after the supplies are loaded, once we're there I'll try to get Starling alone to ask her about this_ , that was her logical line of thought

Her fears however were a different matter, _what if she's a spy for the Cyclonians!_

 _Don't be ridiculous, if she was a spy for Cyclonia, then Cyclonis wouldn't be looking for information about her because she would be under Cyclonis's command_ , her logic countered

 _What if she's deep cover, sent here by the_ _ **previous**_ _Master Cyclonis and the current one has no idea_ , fear replied

 _Now you're just grasping at straws, Starling is_ _ **not**_ _a spy, we don't know_ _ **what**_ _she is yet, but the one and only thing we_ _ **do**_ _know about her is that she's our friend and if we just confront her about this, she'll tell us the truth. There's no sense in worrying about it now though, we can't do anything until we get to Terra Mesa!_ Logic finished

As her mental debate died down, Piper decided to chow down and get some sleep, it _had_ been a long day, and it was _going_ to be a long day tomorrow as well, she would need all the sleep she could get. After eating, Radar graciously took the plates to the kitchen, Piper meanwhile, settled down to sleep, her final thought for the night was speculation as to what Cyclonis was up to right now, as she tried to solve her own mystery.

* * *

 ** _Terra Cyclonia_**

Cyclonis was frustrated, storm weather was up between Terra's Cyclonia and Bogaton, this disrupted radio transmissions and made flying unsafe, meaning her summons for Repton to come to Cyclonia would take longer to reach him. Currently there was a team of talons at communications trying to contact a Terra close to Bogaton that wasn't cut off by the storm, even if they succeeded though, the storm would prevent Repton from getting here swiftly, it was very likely that he wouldn't arrive until tomorrow afternoon. A part of Cyclonis suggested that she just ask Dark Ace to handle the task she wanted fulfilled, Dark Ace had even volunteered to go on whatever mission Cyclonis had for Repton. Cyclonis however had said no, though she still didn't know why, her logical mind argued that it was because Repton had the most experience with not only the Interceptors but Starling as well, he would also likely be holding a grudge against the purple haired Skyknight and would not only leap at the chance to get his revenge, but would take the mission seriously as well. Another part of her mind however berated her, told her she was wasting her time, and resources, she shut it out though as she paced her room, frustrated none the less. _Ugh, this is pointless, pacing and fretting over this isn't going to get Repton here any faster, I need to get some rest, I'll have a lot to do tomorrow_ , Cyclonis thought to herself and got ready for bed. As she settled down to sleep though she found – much to her _escalating_ frustration – that sleep would not come, she tossed and turned in bed trying to drift off, but it just wasn't happening. As her frustration reached a boiling point, she noticed a crystal, high up on a book shelf across from her bed; it was a holo-crystal, the same kind as the two others she owned, one containing a picture of her and her Grandmother, and the other, taken not long after her birth, which had both her father and sister added to it.

This holo-crystal was much larger than the other two, simply because it contained more than one image, this particular crystal could not record the images itself, but it could store them, and Cyclonis knew there were a great many stored in this crystal. Sighing she sat up and held out her hand and the crystal floated down from the shelf to her, as the crystal settled next to her, Cyclonis lay down next to it, before activating it, bringing up the first image stored inside. It was of Cyclonis and her sister – the green eyed girl – playing in their room, at the bottom edge of the image Cyclonis could see a purple cloak resting over the top of a pair of seated legs, all the information Cyclonis needed to know that her grandmother had taken the picture. From the looks on the faces of Cyclonis and her sister, Cyclonis could tell they were happy, genuinely happy, _of course, this was before we lost father, I wasn't even Cyclonis then, it may have been my last name, but everyone just called me princess... or Lark, and she, my sister, shared our grandmother's name, Anarchis_. As these thoughts swirled around her head, Lark felt tears brimming at the corners of her eyes, she quickly moved on to the next picture.

The next picture was a year or two on, in the first Lark had been only three years old, and Anarchis –or Annie, as Lark had begun calling her sister early on – had been nine. Now Lark was about four or five and Annie was 10 going on 11, and it showed a much more sombre period in their lives, they were standing with their grandmother in front of the memorial for their father. A body had never been recovered after his ship had been lost to the wastelands, a grievous blow to Cyclonia, not only from a military stand point due to the loss of a powerful warship, but also morale. Corvin Cyclonis had been a very powerful and influential ruler, while not the Crystal Mage his mother was; he had incredible skill at both personal combat, tactics, strategy and leadership. His loss had spelled an end to the golden age Cyclonia had been enjoying up until that day, afterwards, Cyclonia had begun to falter in the war, while the Free Atmos had taken every advantage sent their way, doing their absolute best to catch up, and they did. By the time Cyclonia had recovered, the Free Atmos had reclaimed much of what they had lost in the last two decades before Corvin's death, this more than anything else seemed to prompt what came next.

The next image was once again taken by their grandmother, Lark knew this because she remembered it, and knew that she, Annie and their grandmother had been the only people in the room. This image was of Lark and Annie learning what they would need to know to rule Cyclonia one day, technically, they were already its rulers as succession passed straight to them, but still being children, their grandmother had stepped up as Queen Regent for them. Lark remembered this started not long after father's death, and at first she and Annie had treated it as a game, some friendly competition. This pattern continued in the next few images, but Lark knew that it didn't last, as time had passed and Lark's incredible talent for Crystal Magecraft became apparent, the competition between the two sisters grew. It never became unfriendly, but the sisters tried harder and harder to outdo each other, this went on for years, roughly five, and as Lark traversed them, going through each image, she saw herself change, grow more tired, more drawn, the happy, cheerful girl began to disappear, while her sister seemed unchanged, on the outside at least. What happened next was neither in the images or her memories, all Lark remembered was she had fallen very badly ill, and after recovering it was to discover that their grandmother had passed away and Annie – or Anarchis Cyclonis the 2nd as people were now calling her – was due to be crowned _Master Cyclonis_.

Only that wasn't what had happened, instead Lark and Annie had begun feuding after Lark discovered she was going to get sent away from Terra Cyclonia to be betrothed to some noble's son on another Cyclonian Terra. The argument had gotten so bad that they had almost destroyed the throne room in the process. Despite being an already powerful Crystal Mage, Lark was nowhere near the level of power she was now, add to that, having only just recovered from an illness and it was pretty obvious that Lark had not won the fight. Even after losing the fight though Lark still refused to go through with the betrothal, then mere hours after their grandmother's funeral, Lark was told that Annie had disappeared, just vanished, a massive search was conducted to try and find her, but all it had accomplished was the discovery that she had left on her own, there was no sign of force or coercion, nor any sign that someone inside, or outside Cyclonia had been involved. With no one else left, Lark Cyclonis ascended to the throne at the age of nine, she did not assume full control of the country immediately and a regency council of nobles were put in place to aid her in managing the empire, a council that was slowly dissolved over the next six years. After a time, Lark had taken to ruling, but back then, all she could think about, was that she was now alone, _I never wanted her to leave, I never wanted to harm her, I just wanted her to treat me as her sister again, like she used to, before father died, before our competition got out of hand, I just wanted to be her equal_.

The tears were now slowly rolling down her cheeks as she gazed at the last image on the crystal, taken about a year and a half before their grandmother's death, it was probably the last happy moment of Lark's life as it currently stood. Lark had been struggling with some of the Crystal Mage techniques that her grandmother was teaching her, causing Lark a large amount of frustration, but Annie had been there for her, and clearly their grandmother had seen how Annie had chosen to cheer Lark up. The image was looking through a crack in a door at the two sisters sitting at a vanity table, Annie had broken out what was left of their mother's make up and jewellery and the two girls were playing dress up, trying things out, and laughing at how ridiculous they looked. Lark squeezed her eyes shut as pain flared not only in her head this time, but also her heart, it ached _so_ badly, _I was only nine, but she still left, she_ _ **abandoned**_ _me when I needed her most, was going to send me away when I needed her most, how could she do that to me!_

 ** _Because she never_ _really_ _cared for you, to her, you were just a tool, an asset, to be used and then thrown away_** , came that dark voice again, surprising Lark, it never usually bothered her after she used a healing crystal

 ** _You can't run from this Lark, you know what your destiny truly is; cease this pointless distraction, return to the conquest of Atmos, which is all that matters!_** It continued

Lark simply began shaking her head, trying to clear it, _go away, I don't want to hear this!_ She countered

 _ **WAKE UP YOU SILLY LITTLE GIRL! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO START SEEING SENSE, THIS**_ _ **IS**_ _ **WHO YOU ARE, JUST ACCEPT IT AND ATMOS WILL BE**_ ** _OURS_** , the voice roared, causing Lark incredible pain.

As she writhed on the bed, her hand brushed the holo-crystal, causing it to go to the next image, but rather than go back to the beginning, something unexpected happened, something Lark had forgotten. Rather than display the first image again, a new one was displayed, one that had been taken roughly a year ago, it was a light picture, and it was that light which caused Lark to open her eyes so she could see what had caused the change in brightness. To her astonishment, she was starring at a picture taken on the deck of a ship, out on the side railing; the light was the blue sky that took up the majority of the image. The image was facing down the railing towards the front of the ship, and leaning against said railing, was a blue haired, amber eyed Skyknight in navy blue uniform, her dark skin contrasting beautifully against the light colour of her hair, her uniform and her eyes. She had a peaceful, serene look on her face as she gazed out at the sky before her, lost in her own world. Lark starred at the image, starred at Piper, the one friend she had ever had, she knew precisely when this was taken, during her infiltration of the _Condor_ , they'd just got back and she had just been introduced to the crew and shown Piper's crystal lab. She had still been reeling from the fact that Piper was self taught, even Lark after her grandmother's death still had her grandmother's notes and research to guide her in her continued studies, but Piper had taught herself completely from trial and error. That had given Lark a new respect for the Skyknight, and that combined with the moment now captured in front of her, had been what influenced her to take the picture. Lark had already known at this point that Piper would never accept her offer to join Cyclonia and she had wanted something to remember her by, her only friend, the only other person in the world to truly care about her, the only piece of happiness Lark had experienced, in _six_ years.

 ** _You don't deserve happiness, not after everything_ _you've_ _done_ , **came the voice again **, _all the lies you've spun, the lives you've ruined, destroyed, of your own volition_**

 _Shut up!_ Lark cried inside her own head

 ** _You know it's true, you're sister didn't abandon you,_ _you_ _drove her away!_ _You_ _deceived Piper, played her for a fool, was it any surprise that she now treats you like the monster you_ _truly_ _are!_** The voice continued to taunt

Lark's tears became full blown sobs, _yes it was her fault, she didn't deserve to be happy, not after everything that she had done_

 ** _Don't fret my dear, we won't need happiness, once all of Atmos is in our grasp!_** The voice exclaimed in triumph, but all Lark could feel was pain, as she cried herself to sleep, Piper's image still displayed on the holo-crystal.

* * *

 _ **Terra Mesa** _

Starling was helping out in Terra Mesa's town when the _Condor_ arrived, swooping in low over the Terra and heading for the cruiser landing zone on the far side of the town. Starling smiled, but didn't rush; she finished helping unload the resident mechanics delivery who thanked her for her help, before hopping on her skyride and making her way to the landing zone. The Storm Hawks were already making their way down the _Condor's_ ramp when she arrived and she made a bee-line for them, as she approached the Storm Hawks noticed her and she saw their faces light up when they did. Well all but Piper surprisingly, as the others came forward to greet Starling, Piper lagged behind, with a look on her face that suggested there was something weighing heavily on her mind. Starling brought her skyride to a halt in front of them smiling "Hi guys, good trip?" she asked

Aerrow smiled "Smooth and sweet" he replied also smiling as he grasped Starling's hand

"Can't say the same for yesterday," Finn said at which Starling looked at him quizzically

"Why, what happened yesterday?" she asked

Aerrow gave Finn an elbow then glanced in Piper's direction; Starling noticed that while she had brightened up having now joined all of them, there was still a faraway look in her eyes. "It's nothing really, Piper just had a run in with Cyclonis, or some astral version of her, shook her up a bit," Aerrow explained

Starling felt worry grip her, _has Cyclonis already told Piper about me?_ She thought, on the outside she turned to Piper and said "Are you ok?"

Piper seemed startled by the direct question asked to her, but she quickly recovered "Yea, I'm ok, but I would like to talk to you later Starling, in private." Piper answered

Starling studied Piper then, trying to gauge what was going on in her head, but whatever was bothering her, she kept it well hidden. "Sure no problem," Starling replied, before turning to the others, "Why don't you all get your skyrides and anything you might want, I can wait," Starling said with a mischievous smile

Aerrow raised his eyebrow and the others, even Piper, looked at her confused. "What for, where are we going?" Aerrow asked

"We're staying on the Terra, but it's a fair ways and it's easiest to reach by skyride," Starling explained her mischievous smile still present. The Storm Hawks all looked at one another, then after Aerrow shrugged; they all went back aboard the _Condor_. They came back out ten minutes later with their skyrides, each with a small pack

Aerrow, with Radar sitting in the co-pilots seat, came up alongside Starling, "Ok, where are we going?" he asked

Starling just smiled, "You'll see, try and keep up," and with that she sped off past the landing zone and towards the edge of the Terra. After a moment of surprise the Storm Hawks raced to catch up, rather than go off the edge of the Terra like they were expecting, Starling made a sharp turn so that she was going along the edge, and almost immediately she disappeared below the rim of the Terra. When the Storm Hawk's reached the same point they saw that going along down the side of the Terra was a ramp, it would have been impossible to traverse on foot, but skyrides could manage just fine. They followed Starling down the ramp which took them almost down to cloud level before leveling out, after a short time going around the edge of the Terra, they came to a small ravine that cut into the Terra, Starling turned down it, the Storm Hawks following. The ravine was overgrown but there was still a well worn track down the middle of the ravine, clear indication that it received almost constant use. The ravine twisted and turned leading them deeper into the Terra, then it opened out into what looked like a natural quarry, it had tall walls all around and if the thick vegetation at the top was anything to go by, was completely inaccessible from the top. A waterfall cascaded into the area forming a lake at the bottom which drained out a smaller ravine to the edge of the Terra, and around the lake were a collection of small buildings; the largest looked like a place to keep skyrides safe from the elements, while the others were quite clearly for habitation. The whole area was only about 50 meters from one side to the other, so it was likely with the thick vegetation at the top that it couldn't even be seen from the air unless you were directly over it.

Starling had stopped in front of the buildings next to the lake and turned to the Storm Hawks as they arrived behind her, "Welcome to the secret base of the Interceptors," she said with a smile.

The Storm Hawks looked around stunned, they'd always heard rumors about the hidden base of the Interceptors, but to actually have it confirmed and _see_ it was almost more than they could take. "Wow," Aerrow breathed

"No kidding," Finn said

Starling smiled as she dismounted from her skyride, "feel free to make yourselves at home, I've arranged for at least a week off for all of us before the Council give us our next mission, and I've got a fully detailed plan for that entire week," she stated

The guys all looked at one another, before rushing off to explore, leaving Starling alone with Piper. To begin with, the two of them were silent, and it stretched out uncomfortably, then Starling walked over to Piper and broke the silence. "So, what did she tell you?" Starling asked

Piper looked at Starling surprised, "what do you mean?" Piper responded

"You had a run in with Cyclonis, I want to know what she said to you," Starling explained

Piper looked away, and then turned back to Starling, "Actually, she didn't _tell_ me anything, she was _asking_ after you, wanting information on you," Piper replied

Starling let out an internal sigh of relief, then her eyes narrowed in confusing, _if Cyclonis hadn't yet figured out who she was, then why is Piper acting so odd?_ Piper sensed her confusion and decided to go on, now that they'd started, it made sense to get it out the way. "After she was done asking questions, I had a few of my own, including what it was that she had said to you during the fight that made you freeze up," Piper went on

Understanding dawned, _she knows I lied to them then, but that's not enough, she's_ _ **really**_ _been shaken by something, but what... oh._ Starling now knew what was bothering Piper, or at least suspected so she asked her next question, "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

Piper fidgeted uncomfortably, glancing over towards the guys to check they weren't going to be overheard, then looked Starling in the eye, "After I found out you had lied to us about what Cyclonis had said, I went to the library to have a look at your file."

Starling just nodded, she knew where this was going, and a cold sensation filled her, _she knows_. "I wanted to ask you, where's your birth certificate Starling?"

 _Of all the people likely to find me out, Piper was certainly the most likely,_ Starling kept Piper's gaze before sighing, "I knew this would happen eventually, but you deserve the truth," Starling stated evenly, "I have no birth certificate, because I wasn't born on a Free Atmos Terra, I was born on Cyclonia."

* * *

 **And there we have it for this chapter, if you're liking this story please leave a review and as always constructive criticism is welcome, stay tuned for chapter 5 and I'll see you guys next time ; )  
**


	5. Chp 5: A Matter of Trust

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **Hello all and welcome back to Choices, this one won't be quite as long as the last, in fact it's probably a little shorter than chapter 3, a couple things I wanted to get out the way before we start. First was the Betrothal thing last chapter, please first understand something, Betrothal isn't an immediate marriage, just the _promise_ of one and the actual marriage won't occur until both bride and groom are of marrying age (so at least 16 in most cases), also be aware that this was something Monarchistic governments (Nations ruled by a Royal family with a King or Queen at the top) did quite often, and it wasn't just within the Royals either, nobles living in countries with these forms of governments practiced betrothal as well. I only say this because I' am aware that the idea of marrying off a nine year old girl is going to rub people the wrong way and I wanted to clear the matter up, Lark - like most girls who get put on the receiving end of this deal - _was_ (that word being the crux of the matter seeing as in the end the betrothal _never_ happened) being sent to the Terra as a means of insurance that nothing would go wrong, if the Bride and Groom are young this is also a good tactic that again _many_ Monarchistic governments did to form some kind of attachment between the bride and groom (makes the whole thing a lot easier when the big day comes around). The second thing I want to say is many might be expecting a lot of detail and reveal in this chapter, and while I can say there is some, I'm not dropping all of my eggs into one basket. In fact after reading back through it myself it mostly feels like a tease... ah well, the exciting stuff is coming and _soon_ that I can promise you, you'll see just what I mean once you start reading, speaking of which I do believe that was all I had to say, so**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, dear readers all, welcome back to Choices**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: A Matter of Trust**

Piper's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she stared at Starling, the information itself wasn't what had shocked Piper, truthfully she had been expecting something along these lines, it was just the logical conclusion she had come to, she just hadn't wanted to accept it. The shock had come from how _directly_ Starling had just told her and how her suspicions had been verified, now Piper was at a loss for how to respond, after all, what do you say when one of your best friends up and tells you they were born on the opposite side of the conflict you were fighting in. For Starling's part she just waited patiently for Piper to process the whole thing, she knew it was a large truth to swallow, however, it was only the tip of the Terra, and Starling wasn't sure if she was comfortable with telling Piper _everything_ yet. There were certain details that she would _have_ to tell her, but as for the rest, Starling wanted to wait and follow her original plan, and that would require a large amount of trust on Piper's part, Starling just hoped that the trust they shared hadn't been destroyed by this _one_ revelation.

Finally, Piper found her voice "Your Cyclonian... _how_?"

Starling just chuckled "If I was Finn there are _so_ many jokes I could make with that one question," she stated causing Piper to blush in embarrassment as she caught on, then Starling continued, her tone serious "But I won't, you're my friend and you deserve answers."

Piper also became serious and gave Starling her full attention, seeing that Piper was listening Starling began, "Basically I ran away, about six years ago now, I dyed my hair picked up a new outfit and wandered the Free Atmos Terra's for a few weeks. Then I met the Interceptors, by the time I did I'd already invented the sob story that I was an orphan who'd lost her parents during the war and that seem to convince most people, not the Interceptors though, and especially not Traven. He saw right through me straight away and demanded the truth, so I told him, after it all came out Traven decided that I wasn't a threat but that others might not see it that way, especially as I grew older. He stated I needed a better cover and as a Skyknight he didn't have it in him to leave a 15 year old girl alone on the streets, so he took me to the council and explained the situation stating that he would take me in and care for me. The council of course were less than happy about it; they wanted to throw me in a cell just for being Cyclonian."

"What!? They wanted to lock you up just for that, but you hadn't done anything wrong you were still just a kid, heck you were roughly the same age as I' am now!?" Piper interrupted

Starling just nodded sombrely "I know it was a real retarded move by them but they _hated_ anything Cyclonian, thank Atmos for Traven and the Interceptors, they stood by me and protected me, and with their help the council agreed to let me stay, but it was all kept very hush, the council didn't want it getting out that there was a Cyclonian living freely and peacefully outside of Cyclonian territory, 'would have started a panic' they said." Starling took a breath here

"Anyway, after that I went to live with Ana here on Terra Mesa, and the story from there I'm sure you know," Starling finished

Piper nodded in response, then her brow furrowed in confusion "Ok wait a minute, _why_ did you run away in the first place, what happened?"

Starling took her time before responding, _can't tell her the full story, not yet, but there are certain details that she can know that should answer her questions_. "My family held very... _influential_ positions in the Cyclonian government and it's safe to say were very firm supporters of Anarchis Cyclonis, the grandmother to the current Master Cyclonis, Lark." Starling started as she realised she had just said more than she meant to, Piper of course had picked up on the information she had let slip

"Wait... _Lark_?" she questioned

Starling sighed, "Yea that's her actual first name, Lark Cyclonis"

Piper scrutinized Starling for a moment, "How do you know that? Did you two, _know_ each other or something?"

Starling just nodded "Yea we did, we were best friends actually." Piper gawked at that, Starling just chuckled, "She was a _very_ different person six years ago, and you'd hardly recognize her compared to who she is today." Piper merely shook her head in amazement as Starling continued, "When Lark's grandmother died, Lark was only nine and already the Master of Cyclonia, there were some in Cyclonia who wanted to take advantage of this, Lark eventually dealt with them as she came into her power but I think it was that struggle that changed her, made her the person she is today. As for myself, after the old Master of Cyclonia passed it left me with a choice, life in prison for my family's allegiances, or self imposed exile, I chose the latter and left behind everything, my family, my friends, my home, I gave up everything." Starling gained a faraway look in her eyes as she spoke as memories returned to the surface

Piper felt a huge swell of sadness for her friend; _she was forced from her home, her family and friends, all because of politics, then after finding a new home, a new family that gets ripped away from her too by the old one_. Then another thought occurred to Piper, "Ok I get why you _had_ to run away now, but is that also _why_ you became a Skyknight? I mean, doing that would essentially be like betraying your people?"

Starling gave Piper a wry smile, "It wasn't an easy decision let me tell you, and it wasn't just _one_ thing." Starling looked over to where the guys were by the lake, they'd already decided that they were going to start the week off with a swim and were preparing to dive in, "You have to understand, before I came to the Free Atmos, all I'd heard about Skyknights were horror stories, tales of how evil and corrupt they were, so imagine my shock when the truth was anything but and the way Cyclonians viewed Skyknights was the same way the people of the Free Atmos viewed the Talons of Cyclonia, men and women I had viewed as heroes all my life. It caused a very drastic change in my perspective, then of course there was the Interceptors, how they had protected me, _me_ a Cyclonian, their sworn enemy, it was quite humbling seeing that these monsters were in fact, just people. They had their flaws and faults but also their virtues, and for the next two years I grew up around these people, watched them protect innocents, put their lives on the line for others and I realised something."

Piper saw a change come over Starling then, like she was remembering her reason for being, "I realised that growing up in Cyclonia I had been following a path laid out for me by my parents and their parents before them and had been denying who I _truly_ was, what I _wanted_ to do, _to be_ , more than anything, and that was to _help_ people, to take the same risks the Skyknights took every day, to make the same sacrifice. So shortly before my 17 birthday I went up to Traven and asked him to train me as a Skyknight, it took several days of convincing but I finally got him to say yes and the rest is history."

After Starling had finished the two of them just stood there in silence, Piper wasn't quite sure what to say, she was certain that Starling had not, _would_ not betray them despite knowing that she was Cyclonian, after all _six_ years and she was still fighting _against_ Cyclonia. Even so, she felt as if there was more that Starling had not told her, "Is that it? I mean, is that everything, there's nothing else?"

Starling sighed, "I'll be honest, I was planning to tell you and the others this at the end of the week, so you already knowing about my birth certificate would have derailed my plans. I can honestly tell you that what I said was the truth... but."

"But what?" Piper asked, eyebrow raised

Starling looked away "Let's just say I glossed over some facts, stretched things out a bit, but I promise, I'll tell you _all_ everything at the end of the week, that was my plan after all," she replied, the last bit said with a wry smile

Piper was now curious "Really, what else is there?"

Starling shook her head "Please Piper I know your curious but I would really rather wait until I can tell _all_ of you at once," Piper looked like she was about to say something, but Starling beat her to it, "Why don't we just tell them now?" Starling asked for Piper, who just nodded in response, "It's complicated Piper, and I already have a plan all laid out, I'd prefer to follow it, please if you could just be patient I promise I'll tell you all everything when I'm ready." Starling explained

Piper was a little frustrated by that, but she could see how tense Starling was and she realised it had probably taken a lot for Starling to tell her as much as she did, now it was a matter of trust for both of them, Starling had to trust that Piper would keep her secret until she was ready to tell it, and Piper had to trust that she would keep her promise.

Piper sighed "Well I suppose it will do for now, I mean this is more than I expected to learn, and I _do_ trust you, after all we've been through together, not even something like learning you're a Cyclonian could change that."

Starling was immensely grateful to hear these words and knew now that her plan could run without a hitch, _just got to get through the week then I'll tell them all everything, and perhaps it's better that Piper knows sooner, she can vouch for me, calm the guys down if need be, after all they trust her perhaps even more than they trust me, and as things stand right now they trust me a lot_.

Starling was just about to voice her thanks when Aerrow called over from the lake "Heh, you guys going to actual _enjoy_ your time off or are you just going to stand there!"

Both Starling and Piper chuckled as they saw all the guys looking towards them from where they were by the lake, Aerrow, Junko, Radar and Finn were all in the water and Stork was on the shore setting up a snack and drinks area (clearly he had already found the newly replenished stocks that Starling had prepared for the base the day before). "We'll be right over once we've got changed Aerrow!" Piper replied before turning to Starling "Talk later?" she asked

Starling nodded, they would have plenty of time to chat another time and Starling didn't have any real plans for today besides briefing the team for the week they were in for, which could be done during dinner. So with that both girls went for the cabin that Starling had picked out for the two of them, Piper carrying her pack, they came out ten minutes later in their swimming costumes running straight for the lake before jumping in.

* * *

 _ **Terra Cyclonia**_

Lark was tense with anticipation, she had been informed that morning that the communication team had gotten through to Terra Bogaton sometime in the early hours of the morning and that a message had been left for Repton who had been unable to take it at the time (something about Raptors _needing_ without question or exception at least 4 hours of sleep _everyday_ ). Well Repton had picked up the message at 7:00 that morning and had made all haste to Terra Cyclonia, he still needed to take a more roundabout route thanks to the storm, however it wasn't _nearly_ as bad as it had been yesterday evening so it wouldn't take him as long as expected. It was now nearly noon, about the time he was expected and sure enough after Lark had dealt with the last meeting on her agenda Repton came striding in, chest puffed and scales clearly oiled so that he looked his best for this meeting, he was also wearing his best armor. Lark waved away her last dignitary and gave Repton her full attention, both the dignitary and Repton noticed this and the Raptor gave the man a sneering look as the two of them passed each other, normally when Repton was summoned it was to berate him, not today, today was different. After the dignitary had left and Repton was standing in front of Lark's throne he went down on one knee, bowing his head in respect, "You summoned me Master?" both a statement and a question, in one sentence he was acknowledging the summons and asking _why_ he was here.

"Yes I did, I've noticed a distinct _lack_ of victories from the Raptors lately, I' am not happy about that" Lark replied

Repton gulped; maybe he had been summoned just to be scolded

Then Lark continued "I had in fact been _considering_ the Raptors for inclusion in the new Skimmer upgrades that are soon to be released from the labs."

 _That_ got Repton's attention, he had heard about the upgrades as well and knew they would be a great boost to his Raptor's combat effectiveness, but as he and his Raptors weren't _official_ Cyclonian forces they were not technically entitled to the new upgrades, not without the Master's approval at least, which was why he had been trying so hard recently to gain victories, and also why he had dressed to impress for this meeting

Repton cleared his throat "Please Master reconsider, my Raptors and I have just been in a rough spot recently, I've been training them hard the last few days and I know we can help bring victories in for Cyclonia." Repton said all this while keeping his eyes firmly lower than Master Cyclonis's gaze, as a Raptor he didn't just _know_ about the subtle intricacies of eye contact, to him, it was _instinct_

Lark just observed the Raptor and his bowed head, knowing he was doing his upmost to crawl his way into her good books, little did he know she was about to hand him his chance. "Enough of your grovelling stand up," Lark commanded, to which Repton instantly obeyed, though you could see the confusion in his eyes

"I summoned you here to inform you that I have a new mission for you, and that if you complete it _successfully_ I will... _reconsider_ the Raptors for inclusion in the new upgrades" Lark continued

The look in Repton's eyes was first one of shock, and then barely restrained glee as a slow smile formed on his face and he stood to attention, "I' am honoured Master, what would you ask of me and my Raptors?"

Lark also smiled, "You're familiar with Skyknight Starling yes?"

Repton bristled at the name, "Yes Master I'm familiar, do you want me to finish what I started and end the Interceptors once and for all?" the last part was said with part hope and part fear, Repton knew he had messed up when he had failed to get Starling two years ago with the rest of the Interceptors, combined with his defeat at Starling's hands roughly half a year ago now made it a personal sore spot with him, and something he _deeply_ wanted to correct

"No, at least not yet, I have certain... _suspicions_ about Starling and I _need_ them verified, but for that, I _need_ to... _Interrogate_ her. In short I need you to find her, _Capture_ her, and bring her back here to me, am I clear?" Lark explained

Repton did not fail to pick up the emphasis on the word _Capture_ , that wasn't what he wanted, but the possibility of _Interrogation_ balanced things out for him, so instead of complaining he simply smiled and bowed "As crystal Master Cyclonis."

Lark smiled as Repton departed the throne room to complete his mission, it would take him a few days at least, but now the ball was in motion all she would have to do is wait, then a thought occurred to her. "And Repton," she called causing Repton to turn half back around to look at her "Do not come back to Cyclonia _without_ Starling!" Lark added in her stern, distorted tone. Repton merely nodded, though there was now a look of fear on his face, and then he left, the door closing behind him with an ominous boom. _This would grant her the final pieces of the puzzle that she needed to complete this mystery, and once that was out of the way_ ** _she could return to the conquest of Atmos_**

* * *

 _ **Terra Mesa**_

Starling and Piper were relaxing in their cabin after dinner, Piper was busy unpacking her things, while Starling was doing maintenance on her nun-chucks; the crystal power source needed regular tuning. The briefing during dinner had gone about how Starling had expected, at the briefing she had told the Storm Hawks about a new plan she had for capturing Cyclonis and bringing about an end to the war but that she needed the Storm Hawk's help to pull it off. Initially she had received resistance to the plan (particularly from Finn who had a rather _negative_ experience with the last capture attempt), but after some persuasion and explanation that they would be honing their skills for this mission during the next week while still having some fun, as well as some support from Piper (who at least had some idea about _why_ they were doing this) she was able to convince the others. So now they were all turning in for an early night so they could be up bright and early tomorrow morning and make the most of the day.

As Piper finished packing she turned to Starling, a question clearly on her mind, but instead of asking it directly she went a different route, "So I take it we'll find out _why_ you're so fixated on _capturing_ Lark at the end of the week yes?"

Starling paused in what she was doing, _I hate that I even have to fight Lark, and I hate even_ _ **more**_ _that I have to lie to Piper_ ; out loud she said "Yes Piper, again I'll explain _everything_ at the end of the week."

Piper just nodded, before gathering up her nightclothes and making for the bathroom, she emerged ten minutes later and passed by Starling on her way to her bed, as she came by her though Piper stopped and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You know if there's anything you need to talk about, I'm here for you, we all are" she said, repeating Aerrow's advice to her from yesterday.

Starling just nodded and smiled "I know, but thanks, it means a lot to me, that and your trust." Piper smiled in response before continuing to her bed, Starling continued to finish her maintenance before getting ready for bed herself, once she was ready she turned out the lights and tucked herself in.

"Goodnight Starling," Piper called

"Goodnight Piper," Starling replied, before closing her eyes and settling to sleep

* * *

 **Well that's it for now folks, if you're liking this story so far please leave a review and I will see you all in Chapter 6, until next time ; )  
**


	6. Chp6: Trials of the Interceptors

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **Hello guys and welcome back, this chapter is probably the longest yet, strangely though not much _actually_ happens apart from the training, we'll get a little more revealed about Lark as well as some set up for the action that is shortly to come in the next couple of chapters, but other that that yea this one just runs through the week of training for the Storm Hawks so**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, dear readers all, welcome back to Choices  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Trials of the Interceptors**

 _ **The next morning**_

The arrangement of the cabins went like so, the Skimmer shed was the furthest from the lake but the closest to the main ravine in and out of the natural depression in the Terra, the cabin closest to the shed was the main cabin which housed a kitchen – complete with dining area – a laundry room, a common room and a briefing room. The bunk cabins were on either side of the main cabin with Starling and Piper's cabin on one side and the other two on the opposite side, Piper was to learn the reason for this arrangement early in the morning. More specifically at 5:00 am when Starling woke her up and told her to get dressed and meet her outside the main cabin, all the while a mischievous smile on her face. Tiredly Piper did as she said and was soon walking towards the main cabin where she found Starling leaning on the corner closest to the other two cabins, the mischievous smile still plastered on her face

"So (yawn) why are we up this early?" Piper asked

Starling's smile got wider and she leaned down to pick up a foghorn sitting on the ground next to her and began twirling it, "I've waited _years_ to try this for myself and I'm fairly certain that Traven always slightly enjoyed it. I can't even begin to tell you how much of a shock my first morning here was," Starling said still smiling

Piper was awake in an instant as she put the pieces together and covered her ears as Starling began sauntering over to the other two cabins, while putting ear plugs on. Starling then began shaking up the foghorn before holding it out towards the other two cabins and pressing the release button. The sound was _far_ _louder_ than Piper was expecting and she guessed that Starling's earplugs were good quality because she didn't even flinch. Under normal circumstances foghorns were loud, but thanks to their surroundings the sound began bouncing off the walls, then the vegetation at the top – most of which consisted of tall pine trees – trapped most of the sound inside the depression, increasing the echo and overall crescendo of noise. The effect was immediate, all four of the male Storm Hawk members (and Radar) jumped out of bed and rushed to the cabin doors in their PJ's just as Starling let up on the release. All of them stood there staring at Starling and Piper, both of whom were fully dressed while the boys were all in their nightwear, heck Finn and Stork were just in their boxers, at least Aerrow had a shirt on, but by far the most ridiculous was Junko who was wearing a onesy. Piper couldn't help it, despite the fact that she had a small ringing in her own ears; she couldn't help but burst into laughter at the guys flustered and haphazard appearance

The guys all looked at one another before Finn turned to the girls, "Not funny Starling!" he shouted (mainly because of how bad his own ears were ringing and not being able to hear himself over it), then he turned around and went back into the cabin he was sharing with Aerrow.

Aerrow himself asked (also in a loud voice while massaging his ears) "What's with the wake-up call?"

"Simple, training starts at 7:00 am sharp, so you guys have two hours to get dressed and get some breakfast," Starling explained as she took out the ear plugs still smiling

Junko and Stork both grumbled but turned to go back into their cabin to get ready, Aerrow just shook his head a wry smile on his own face. With that Starling began walking towards the main cabin and Piper (who had recovered from her fits of laughter) moved to join her, however she did call back to others, "Heh guys, nice underwear," she said smiling before heading into the main cabin, catching their red cheeks in her peripheral vision

Two hours later the still drowsy Storm Hawks were gathered in front of the Skimmer Shed, Starling standing in front of them, her smile still present "I hope your all ready for today, after all we trained _your_ way on your ship, but now, you're on _my_ Terra, and here we do things the _Interceptor's way_."

Her words while seemingly neutral in tone still sent a chill down the spines of each Storm Hawk, "So what exactly will we be doing today?" Aerrow asked nervously adjusting his combat armor

Starling's smile only grew wider, if the book 'Alice in Wonderland' existed in Atmos the Storm Hawks would have said she resembled the Cheshire Cat, "First we're going to start with a run around the perimeter of the base, starting from here and heading off in _that_ direction," as she spoke she indicated a faded trail that led from the side of the shed towards the rock wall and then proceeded to follow it around its entire circumference

"That doesn't seem so bad," Finn said, we'll be done in no time

Starling's smile only got bigger if that was possible "I'm not done yet, we don't stop running until we reach sunlight... _without_ leaving the depression"

It took a few minutes for the Storm Hawks to get onto the same track as Starling, it was now 7:00 am, on the Terra's surface the sun had already risen, and its presence in the sky provided enough light for them to see, but as yet, no direct sunlight had reached the depression, and wouldn't for another _two hours_

"You just _had_ to say something" Stork grumbled, while Finn's mouth was hanging open at the prospect of a _two hour_ run

"One last thing, we'll be making this run _every_ morning for the _entire_ week, unless I say otherwise," Starling finished, smile still in place, each of the Storm Hawks felt like keeling over then and there, in Piper's case the thought going through her head was _whatever you have to tell us at the end of this week Starling had_ _ **better**_ _be worth it_.

"All right let's get started, remember it's not a _race_ nor about _speed_ , it's about _endurance_ , conserve your energy and try to make it till we hit sunlight, those who make it to the end of the run get rewards, those who don't get penalties. After all, in this exercise it doesn't matter how _fast_ you are or how _many_ laps you complete, it's about lasting till the end, heck if it wasn't for these morning runs I wouldn't have survived long enough to be picked up by another squadron after Repton's ambush, so don't just knock it, am I understood!" Starling's voice rose at the end to ensure she had the full attention of _every_ Storm Hawk

"YES MAMM!" the team replied (Radar even saluted)

"Then let's hop to it, go, go, go!" Starling yelled as she got the Storm Hawks started on the run and began jogging behind them. Starling knew of course that all the Storm Hawks were not just _competent_ fighters; they were _exceptional_ ones, probably one of the most skilled squadrons in the Atmos. But as good as they were Starling knew the Interceptors had been _better_ , why? Because they had focused on their training and honing their skills even in their down time, the Interceptors had been one of the most disciplined and well trained squadrons in the Atmos. So the idea that Starling and Ana had three days ago was, 'what do you get when you apply that same training to an already exceptionally skilled squadron?' The answer, the _greatest_ squadron to ever exist. This was the _exact thing_ Starling needed to pull off a plan she had been refining for the better part of the last two years now, a plan to end the war, and fix her own personal mistakes that she had made, mistakes that had effected not just her _own_ life, but that of the Storm Hawks, and Lark, and not for the better.

* * *

 _ **Terra Bogaton**_

Repton was organizing his Raptors for the upcoming mission when another call came through from Cyclonia, to Repton's surprise it _wasn't_ Master Cyclonis, but the Dark Ace

"Repton, I was hoping to talk," came Ace's voice over the radio

"Dark Ace, what is it that you want?" Repton asked rather impatiently

"I understand that Master Cyclonis has recently given you a new mission," Dark Ace said, getting straight to the point

"So, what is it to you Ace, _I_ was given this mission, _not_ you!" Repton snapped

The radio was silent for some time, then Ace's cold voice came through the radio, "Do not try me Raptor, I have no intention of _taking_ your mission from you, but unless you show me the _respect_ I deserve, I _will_ make your life a living nightmare, do you understand?"

Repton gulped "My apologies Dark Ace, I didn't mean anything by"

"Be quiet you _idiot_ and tell me what she ordered you to do," Ace growled

Repton bared his teeth but swallowed his pride as he answered "She told me to _capture_ Skyknight Starling and bring her back to Terra Cyclonia,"

There was a pause here, then Ace replied "Really, Starling you say, how... interesting."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Repton asked

"Nothing, it's not important right now, but I must insist that you follow the Master's orders to the letter," Ace said

"Why?" Repton insisted

Ace simply chuckled down the line "Trust me my friend, it's important, bring her back alive and unhurt and the two of us might finally gain the chance we've been waiting for, all of Atmos _will_ be ours, so long as you can curb your desire for revenge."

Repton started at that and the wheels in his head began turning as he processed the information, a slow _predatory_ smile spread across his face and on the other end of the line Ace could hear it in his voice. "You drive a hard bargain Ace... _deal_!"

* * *

 _ **Terra Mesa**_

Starling was quite impressed, each of the Storm Hawks made it to the end (with the exception of Radar, but then again Starling hadn't expected him to last as long as the rest of them), each of them finished at different levels though. Junko was, _unsurprisingly_ , able to keep pace with Starling the whole way, heck he was a good marker for where the front of the run was for when Starling would hang back to motivate or encourage the others. Aerrow was next in line and of course he had picked up Radar at one point who rode on his shoulder for the rest of the run, meaning Aerrow had been carrying extra weight, Starling allowed it because the two of them usually worked together. Then there were the three stragglers, it had been pretty close between Finn and Piper for a while, but – as much as it _galled_ Starling to admit – evolution won the day with the natural extra Stamina that was bestowed upon the males of _any_ mammalian species. Despite trying her hardest to catch up to Finn, Piper slowly fell behind, eventually she gave up trying to catch him after remembering Starling's words about conserving energy, and did her best to just _stay_ on her feet and finish the run. That left the poor Merb Stork bringing up the rear, to give credit where credit was due though; he _was_ able to keep going right to the end.

And reach the end they did, when Starling felt the warmth on her skin from direct sunlight she slowed to a stop in front of a cooler she had placed while the Storm Hawks had been having breakfast. Junko stopped beside her, the big guy was sweating and his breathing was slightly labored but apart from that he was none the worse for wear. Starling went over to the cooler and opened it up to reveal seven bottles of water on top of ice packs, she took a bottle out and tossed it to Junko who caught it

"What's this?" he asked

"Water, with a special blend of nutrients designed to restore the body's energy levels, no drugs, just natural ingredients," Starling replied taking out a bottle for herself and taking a swig

Junko examined his bottle before shrugging his shoulders and took a swig himself, as he drank Aerrow trotted up to the two of them panting and sweating, once he reached them he bent over and placed his hands on his knees while Radar wiped his brow to remove the sweat.

"Not bad Aerrow, a few more of those and you should be able to keep up with me and Junko," Starling said smiling while handing him a bottle

"All due respect Starling... you know what, forget it," he replied before drinking the water down greedily

Starling just chuckled as she handed Radar his own smaller bottle. Finn arrived next and almost immediately collapsed on the ground, lying on his back staring at the sky chest heaving for breath, eyes closed. Starling simply walked over to him and splashed a small amount of her water onto his face, Finn spluttering sat up and glared at Starling, who just held out his bottle smiling. Seeing the water Finn grabbed it before chugging it down, once he had finished chugging he looked up at Starling took a few breaths before panting "Your... an... evil... woman... Starling!" each word ushered with every breath

Starling just smiled before turning to Piper who was now arriving, like Finn she was gasping for breath and was unable to stay on her feet once she reached the end, since they were by the lake though which had various sized rocks positioned around it, Piper went and sat against one of those. She happily accepted the water Starling offered splashing some on her face first before chugging the bottle

Finally Stork arrived and looked ready to keel over, Starling caught him and helped him into a seating position "Here Stork, you need this the most," Starling said handing him first her own water – which was half full – before setting his own next to him. Starling hadn't been kidding around about the water's ability to restore energy levels, it was a blended mix of sugar, fruit and other naturally occurring high energy foods, Starling had witnessed its effects first hand on her first day of training, both with regards to the other Interceptors and herself. After 10 minutes rest she could see the positive effects on the Storm Hawks as well, as they began perking up and got to talking with one another again. Aerrow then asked Starling a question "So Starling, how many of these runs did _you_ do?"

Starling smiled "Including this one, I guess this makes it... you know I've lost count, every morning at least for the better part of 2 months," the Storm Hawks mouths hung open in disbelief, "heh, like I said don't knock it, if it wasn't for this training, I wouldn't be here today, the Interceptors always got the most dangerous missions after the Dark Ace's betrayal, so we were always in the thick of it, fighting for our lives."

The Storm Hawks all looked at one another, suddenly Starling's attitude to the way _they_ had trained made sense, she had immersed herself in a world of discipline and hard work, and it had paid off. Though she had indeed admitted it was good to remember to have fun every now and then, her _'by the book'_ attitude made a lot more sense now, it was how she had been fighting and surviving for the last _four_ years. Starling then stood up stretching "Okay guys, who's up for some fun before we continue with today's training?"

This got their attention "What did you have in mind?" Aerrow asked

Starling smiled and walked over to a large rock, behind it she retrieved a set of four six foot long poles and a ball, "Set these up in pairs, each one should be about eight feet from its pair and the second pair needs to be 10 meters away from the first," Starling said while handing the poles to the Storm Hawks. Each Hawk looked at one another but didn't argue, once the poles were set up, Starling gathered them at the center point between the two pairs of poles

"Ok so here's how the game works, we split into two teams, each team has a goal," she said indicating the pairs of poles, "Both teams have to defend their goal while trying to get the ball," she continued holding up the aforementioned object "Into their opponent's goal, simple right."

It was simple, but after the run _none_ of the Storm Hawks were going to take things at face value "What's the catch?" Finn asked (knowing he _usually_ did, it was like the universe had selected him to be ' _that guy'_ )

"No catch," Starling answered and the Storm Hawk's breathed a sigh of relief "But the losers have to wash up after dinner this evening," Starling finished smiling

Each of the Storm Hawks blinked, and then Aerrow put on his game face "You're on," he said smiling himself

They split into two teams of three (with Radar refereeing), Starling, Piper and Finn were on one team, and Aerrow, Junko and Stork were on the other. Before the game got started, Starling got Finn and Piper in a huddle, "Ok, they have size and strength on their side thanks to Junko, but you guys have me," she said smirking "So here's our strategy, Piper you hang back, your better at short distance dashes which makes you a good defender, keep the ball _out_ of our goal as best you can." Piper just nodded and Starling turned to Finn, "Finn I want you at mid field, use that accuracy of yours to put in long distance passes, the more we can dance the ball around them, the better chance we'll have of getting to their goal," Finn also nodded

Piper then asked something "Heh Starling, what's this game called?"

"Here on Terra Mesa we call it football, but everywhere else just calls it soccer," Starling replied

After that the game got started, to start with Starling's team held the upper hand, but this was only because Stork was _deathly_ afraid of the ball and would freeze up when it came his way, this allowed both Starling and Finn to each score a goal (Finn even did a streak after scoring, only for Piper and Starling to shout at him to put his shirt back on). On the third goal attempt however Stork got lucky and managed to catch the ball (by accident) and learned that it was not actually as scary as he thought, after that things started going downhill for Starling's team, now it was _impossible_ for them to score as Stork would catch or block every shot sent his way. Add to this the fact that they still had Aerrow and Junko to worry about and it made it impossible to line up a decent shot to score. Aerrow and Junko however had no such problems against Piper, though she did her best and was able to stop _most_ of their shots, she wasn't able to stop _all_ of them and Aerrow and Junko were able to even up the score. The game then continued with both teams trying to gain the upper hand, but by the time had reached the point Starling had decided was long enough the score was still two all. So it came down to penalty shoot outs, first Piper vs. Stork, despite how good he was at defending a goal, without Junko and Aerrow providing pressure it was _much_ easier and Piper was almost as good a marksmen as Finn. Piper's shot was well placed and sailed with mere millimeters to spare between Stork's outstretched fingers and the left hand pole, Stork's turn came next, but though he was an excellent goalie, he was not so skilled at actually _scoring_ the goals, his shot went way wide of the goal (and sailed right through a window in Stork and Junko's cabin (whoops)).

Next up was Finn, and everyone was sure this was where Starling's team would gain a two point lead again; _however_ , Finn got cocky and put a little too much power behind his shot. The ball sailed over the top of _both_ poles all the way to the far wall of the depression, it then bounced back and came right back towards Finn and Aerrow's cabin (everyone winced as they heard the sound of breaking glass come from the side of the cabin they couldn't see). Before Junko took his shot, Starling checked the ball to make sure it was still usable; luckily it hadn't taken any broken glass and seemed none the worse for wear. Junko's shot was straight and true, and to start with probably a little _too_ straight and true as the shot went straight for Piper who caught the ball, the force that it had been traveling though was enough to send Piper flying back a couple of feet between the poles and unfortunately Starling informed them that this _still_ counted as a successful score as the ball had still been sent between the poles (much to Piper's dismay). The score now even again it was time for Starling to step up, she had actually been playing this game with the interceptors throughout her training – she would later tell the Storm Hawks that Traven liked using it as a team building exercise – so she had a lot more practice and skill at the game, for her, it was child's play to get the ball past Stork without Junko or Aerrow helping him. The score was now 4-3 to Starling's team and Aerrow was the last to take a shot, he took his time lining it up before backing away for the run up, Piper knew she was unlikely to stop the shot, so she decided to give herself an advantage. Just as Aerrow began his run up to the ball he glanced up at Piper, who at that moment, fluttered her eyelashes at him, Aerrow caught the action and stumbled, completely throwing off his shot making it easy for Piper to catch the ball, a smug smirk on her face as she twirled the ball in her hand "Nice try Aerrow."

Aerrow stared at Piper dumbfounded as Starling and Finn burst into laughter, "That... that was a dirty trick Piper!" Aerrow exclaimed

"Worked though didn't it," Piper replied chuckling her eyes sparkling

Aerrow found it impossible to stay mad at her and was soon chuckling as well "Fair enough, well played Piper."

It had been a fun game and Aerrow's team accepted defeat with good grace, after that it was time for lunch where Starling told them all how the rest of the day would go, with each Storm Hawk focusing on improving their individual skills. She began with Finn explaining how despite his excellent aim, it meant nothing if the enemy found it easy to take him out of play within the first few minutes of a fight, Finn's training would take the form of an obstacle course filled with targets, Finn would have to navigate the course, hitting as many of the targets as he could in the quickest amount of time. Next up was Stork, apart from his skills as a pilot, Stork's main contribution to the team was in his ability to use the terrain to trap and slow down the enemy (he was also good at disarming enemy traps) so Starling told him to work on that, during the next week he would have to devise a way to use his affinity for traps as a form of crowd control to make it easy for the rest of the team by either slowing down dangerous enemies or taking whole groups of enemies out of the fight. By the end of the week Starling wanted him to be able to make and use traps on the fly in the middle of a fight. Then there was Junko, Starling stated that although he had great strength and knew how to use it effectively, there was still room for improvement, so she set up Junko to study for the week, focusing on physics and biology. With this she argued that Junko would be more capable of finding and hitting weak spots on an enemy, this would allow him to expend less strength in each individual fight and so allow him to be more effective for longer. Aerrow pointed out that if Junko was studying his opponent, then he wasn't fighting them, giving his opponent time to attack Junko, in response Starling simply said that this was why in addition to the studying, Junko would also continue to work on his endurance and constitution, basically making him the _tank_ of the team.

They then moved on to Piper, her training would be similar to Storks in that Starling wanted her to work on her Crystal Magecraft and be able to bring it into a fight more effectively. "Basically you don't have the sheer _power_ that Cyclonis has and although I hate to say it, you probably never will," Piper had just nodded in acceptance of this; Cyclonis had already shown on many occasions that her power level was _way_ above Piper's. "However, you have something Cyclonis doesn't, you're inventive, creative, able to think your way out of _any_ situation, _use_ that. Come up with new ways to fight using your crystals, perhaps even new crystals, don't just leave your crafting on the ship, _bring_ it to the fight," Starling explained, to which Piper just nodded, ideas already running rampant through her mind. That just left Aerrow, "Aerrow, you're not Dark Ace, you never have been you never will be, and that's a good thing, so don't fight like he does," Aerrow raised an eyebrow at this so Starling explained, "Dark Ace is a much more rigid fighter than he first appears, he focuses on _power_ and nothing else, he lacks speed and agility, which is why he is most dangerous when he is aboard his skimmer, as his ride makes up for that." Aerrow just nodded, these were things he had noticed as well, on foot Dark Ace preferred arenas where his opponent had less room to move, like tight corridors. "So we're going to be working on your fighting style, for that, I'm going to teach you how to Waltz, Tango and Samba," Starling said a smile on her face, each of the Storm Hawks looked at her incredulously

"W-what?" Aerrow asked disbelievingly

"How's learning how to dance supposed to make Aerrow a better fighter?" Piper asked

"Simple, did any of you see how Cyclonis flowed around Aerrow during our last fight with her?" Starling asked, each of the Storm Hawks thought back

"It _was_ startling, it was like... one moment she was there, the next she was behind me," Aerrow said

Starling simply nodded, "This was something I learned while training with the Interceptors, Traven told me that fighting was a dance just with a lot more hitting and physical violence. The basic principle is this, 'when you've trained your body to naturally flow, you can easily avoid enemy attacks while expending very little energy, and dance is the best way to learn that natural flow'."

The Storm Hawks all looked at one another, in a weird kind of way, it actually made sense, of course, Finn just had to comment "I can't wait to see Aerrow doing the Samba," to which the others began chuckling and Aerrow groaned. Once lunch was done they got started on their first day of training, they set up Finn's obstacle course and an area for weights and fitness training close to the cabins (Starling even fished out some timers and gave them to Radar, who became their time keeper). They also set up some floats all tied together to make some swimming lanes in the lake, and then the work began. They trained for much of the day, at least six hours before Starling finally called it a night; they then went and had dinner before turning in for the night.

This was how things went for the next week, early morning wake-up call followed by breakfast and the two hour run, after a short break they would play either a game of football or keep away for the next hour or so and then break for an early lunch, then it was time to get to work and train for the remainder of the day, as the light would begin to fail they'd pack up for the day and have dinner before getting an early night so they could start over again the next morning. By the end of the week Starling could see a marked improvement for each and every Storm Hawk, the run was now far closer between all of them and while Finn, Piper and Stork were all still exhausted by the end, it wasn't _nearly_ to the extent they had been on the first day. Their teamwork had already been _very_ good, but the games still saw a small improvement on that front as well, the _biggest_ change was in their skills. On the second to last day Starling decided to hold tests, for Finn they went out of the depression and into the forest at the top, here the whole team (Starling included) chased Finn down, their objective to grab a scarf from out his pocket, Finn meanwhile had to keep hold of the scarf for as long as possible. Finn actually got creative and tied the scarf around his neck, making it harder for the others to take it; they spent the next hour chasing him through the trees doing their best to dodge his stun arrows. Piper and Stork finally caught him, demonstrating the advancement of their skills by combining Stork's traps with Piper's crystals, in short they got Finn's feet stuck to the trunk of a tree he was standing on allowing Aerrow and Starling to tag team him until they were close enough to take the scarf from Finn.

For Junko and Aerrow, Starling had them spar, _against her_ ; at first the other Storm Hawks didn't think it particularly fair as it was 2 vs. 1, but Starling insisted she could handle it, and handle it she did. Despite all the training, Starling danced around the two of them landing some seriously powerful blows, they were able to get in a few good hits themselves, she got a kick to the ribs from Aerrow and a glancing blow to the head from Junko. In the end though Starling was still victorious, she was however more than satisfied with their progress, Junko was now a lot smarter with the punches he threw and was _incredibly_ tough, while Aerrow now flowed easily throughout the fight. During the week the others had had some amusement at Aerrow's expense as they watched him learn to dance, but as the week had gone by and he had gotten better they'd begun applauding him, now seeing it translate to his fighting style made it seem even more impressive. With the tests over Starling said they could finish early today and that tomorrow she would brief them on their new mission, the guys all cheered that they had completed this week of training (and were quite chuffed with how much better they had all gotten). Piper meanwhile knew what tomorrow would mean, and was both excited to finally learn the full truth of Starling's past, and anxious about how the guys would respond. For the time being however she put that aside, the guys all said they were going to relax (and by that sleep) for the rest of the day so they were fresh and ready for tomorrow, Piper was about to head back to her and Starling's cabin to do the same when Starling stopped her

"I want to show you something, it'll be worth the time and effort I promise," Starling said to her

Piper thought about it then nodded, she had come up with some questions she wanted to ask Starling that she felt the Interceptor could answer without disrupting her plan, "okay sure" she replied

"Great, let's go grab our swim stuff," Starling said as she made her way to their cabin, that raised Piper's curiosity but she just followed. After informing the guys they were heading out Starling took them over to a small ravine hidden on the far side of the depression, it was just passable on foot and was _very_ overgrown but they managed.

"So where exactly are we going?" Piper asked

"You'll see, it's a surprise," Starling replied, her mischievous smile back

The rest of the hike was made in silence as they focused on their footing and where they were going, despite the fact that the gradient was quite gentle, even after they got out of the ravine and into a wider canyon filled with trees, Piper got the distinct impression that they were going up. Then they reached what must have been the peak of their climb and the trees began thinning as they started going down again, but only for a short ways. After emerging from the trees into a clearing, Piper was treated to the sight of a natural hot spring, the air filled with warmth from the naturally heated water.

"Wow!" Piper exclaimed, in addition to the hot spring, the area was just picturesque, tall pines created an enclosed space, but leaned outward to allow light in, the area surrounding the hot springs until about a few feet away from the water was carpeted with flowers of every description. While the rocks that adorned the area were smooth and flat.

"Worth it?" Starling asked smiling as she got into her swimsuit

"Are you kidding, this is _great_!," Piper exclaimed quickly retrieving her own swimsuit

Starling chuckled at that before setting her things on the ground close to the water's edge before stepping in, Piper joined her a few moments later and gave a sigh of bliss as she sank into the water that felt like it was the perfect temperature for soothing aching muscles. There was also a rock ledge under the water that was positioned at the perfect height for sitting comfortably, "Ahh, this is what I needed," Piper sighed

"You can say that again," Starling said

"How'd you even know about this place?" Piper asked

"Tia showed me the end of my first week of training, Traven always ended the training on the last day of the week a little earlier than normal, to give us time to recover for the next week," Starling explained. "I can't even begin to describe just how bad I felt at the end of that week, and then Tia brought me here, she and I were the only girls on the team so she looked out for me a lot, and by Atmos this was bliss, felt like all the tension and aches were just washed away."

Piper shook her head smiling, then she sat back relaxing in the warm water, then her question that she had wanted to ask came back to her, "Heh Starling, you mind if I ask you something?"

"Piper I'm telling you all everything tomorrow can't you" Starling started, but Piper interrupted

"It's not about that, I actually wanted to know about Lark, you said the two of you were friends, so... do you think you could tell me what she was like... you know, before you left Cyclonia," Piper explained

Starling blinked a couple of times, _suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, they are a lot alike_. "Well I can tell you this, if they hadn't been a war and the two of you had met, you'd have been instant friends, you're actually a lot like her in many ways."

Piper raised an eyebrow at this, though in her head, Cyclonis's words to her on Terra Tundras came back to her, _"We're a lot alike you and I, more than you'd like to admit!"_

Starling then continued "She was kind, caring, but also funny and always pulling pranks, she was such a cheeky little minx," Starling said, a smile on her face, her eyes looking at nothing but staring into the past. "Then she began changing," Starling said with a sigh

"What do you mean?" Piper asked

Starling looked away "She became more withdrawn, more tired, more... _drained_ , her laughter and smile went from common place to rare, she turned irritable, it was like everything that made her who she was, was being drained from her, making her hollow, a mere shell."

Piper absorbed all this in silence, wondering what in Atmos could have done that to a girl that was... heck less than _nine_ years old at the time

"By the time I left there wasn't much left of the girl I had known, and when I returned during my infiltration of Cyclonia she was almost completely gone," Starling explained

" _Almost_?" Piper questioned

Starling nodded "There were times when I could see the girl I had grown up with, and then there was _your_ encounter with her, even if it was a manipulation she still would have had to remember _how_ to act in order for the plan to get as far as it did, which means some small part of her with those thoughts and feelings still exists."

Piper thought about that, then asked her final question "So is that why you want to capture her so badly, to remind her of who she is?"

Starling gave a wry smile, "kinda, I want to talk with her, preferably alone, one to one with no distractions and give her no choice other than to hear me out."

"You didn't try while you were on Cyclonia for that year?" Piper asked

"Of course I did, though not directly, but when I did... I'd never been afraid of her before that, but the mere mention of me from the time we'd been friends caused her to grow angry... no, _furious_ , I've never been more afraid of anything, not even my squad's destruction caused the same level of fear as that moment with Lark, I never brought up the subject again with her, and because of the way I asked, she never thought of me as anything more than another Talon, until you guys came along," Starling replied

Piper's eyes were wide, but Starling wasn't done yet "After I had been dismissed after asking about... well myself, I quickly walked out, but stopped after closing the door behind me."

Piper looked confused here, "Why?"

"Because she was crying, while saying my name... my Cyclonian name from six years ago, over and over again," Starling explained

Piper's eyes got wider (if that was even possible), shows of emotion, at least that of sorrow, happiness or anything other than hate and anger were unheard of for Lark, and Piper remembered only one time when she had seen such a thing personally, and that had been on the _Condor_ when Lark had been infiltrating it, she had found Lark at the railing, a single tear tracing down her cheek.

Piper was about to ask something else, when a voice came from the trees "How touching, I wonder what Master Cyclonis would think about that?" Starling and Piper whipped round to see Repton emerge from the trees, a broad toothy smile on his face. Starling leaped for the edge of the spring to grab her combat knife (she'd left her nun-chucks back at the base), but Hoerk beat her to it, placing a foot on her pack, three other Raptors appeared from the trees, leveling weapons at the two girls they were Spitz, Tokka and Klaus, there was no sign of Leugey, it was possible he was with their rides.

"Now now Starling we'll have none of that, don't want a fight that could damage you, after all, the Master wants you _alive_ ," Repton sneered

Starling glared at him as Repton continued "We've got no orders about the Storm Hawk brat, we'll take her too though, Master Cyclonis likes subordinates who _exceed expectations_. However, if you entertain any ideas of resisting or escape well... I can't guarantee her safety."

Starling and Piper both looked at one another, they were outnumbered, with no weapons of their own, and no way to call for help, "Starling, what do we do?" Piper asked

"What can we do," Starling replied while staring down Repton and his malicious grin.

* * *

 **Dun dun daaaaaaaaaaa!  
**

 **Hope you all enjoyed that, we're getting back into the action now so get ready for a wild ride, as always please leave a review if you're liking this story, constructive criticism is welcome, and I will see you guys next time ; )**


	7. Chp7: Kidnapped!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **Hello all, yes I know a new update, its been what, three days since the last one, your going to find this happens with me, once I reach a certain points in my stories I can't stop writing as I have to get the ideas out before I forget them, or overuse them in my head and can't put them back together the original way I thought of them (which is usually the better version). So yea, now that we getting into the really INTENSE stuff, updates have the chance for being quicker, so you guys all have that to look forward to ; )**

 **Now for the chapter, this is where things get tense, a fair few things happen in not a lot of time (I think you could say this chapter covers about a day roughly, the end should be well into the evening, probably even after sunset), but it only gets better from here, you may have noticed that there are various different sides with different people on them in this story, well those who have plans, schemes etc are now rushing to get them fulfilled, everything is rushing together, and we all know what happens when lots of stuff all comes together at once (BOOM!) so**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, dear readers all, welcome back, to Choices**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Kidnapped!**

 _ **Back at the Interceptor base**_

The guys were all sound asleep, dozing in the last rays of sunlight the day would provide (at least for this part of the Terra), all of course, except Radar, unlike the others he wasn't nearly as tired, so he was busy wandering the base looking for a snack. As he went from cabin to cabin a sound reached his ears, he stopped and stood up straight ears flicking back and forth to locate and identify the source of the sound. When he realised what it was he gave a screech of alarm and began rushing on all fours towards Aerrow and Finn's cabin, the door stood open to let a cool breeze in so Radar did not slow, instead he sped up and rushed in before jumping through the air and landed directly on Aerrow who was awake instantly as Radar practically winded him

"Radar, what are you doing?" Aerrow wheezed

Radar began chirping frantically and pointing out the window (the one Finn smashed with the football) while jumping up and down on Aerrow's bed

The commotion woke up Finn who sat up groggily and looked over at the two of them, "What's up with him?" he asked

"I don't know- oww, look Radar you have to calm down and tell us what's going on!" Aerrow exclaimed as Radar jumped on his foot this time

As Aerrow struggled with Radar Finn tried to get back to sleep, but the chirping Lemur-Rabbit made that impossible, "Aerrow could you tell him to keep it down!" Finn exclaimed over Radar's chirping

This made Radar turn on Finn and he began chirping and screeching at him madly, "Oh yea, you wanna go fuzz ball!? Finn snapped jumping out of bed, angry that his sleep had been so rudely disturbed

"Both of you shut up!" Aerrow suddenly shouted

Finn glared at Aerrow, "your taking his side, why shouldn't I be surprised, you always"

"FINN, I SAID SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" Aerrow roared

That shut them both up, the commotion even woke Junko and Stork who came to see what the fuss was about. After a stretch of silence Finn spoke "What, I don't hear anything..." but Finn trailed off as a faint sound drifted in on the breeze coming in through the window, it was a steady thrumming... of engines... _skimmer_ engines

"Starling and Piper took their skimmers right?" Aerrow asked

The deathly silence from the others and their white sheet faces (or pale green in Stork's case) were answer enough, but Finn still answered "I'm pretty sure I saw them leave on foot."

Aerrow thought quickly, _it could just be another squadron, possibly, but then again Starling had said she'd arranged for a week of leave for all of them, which didn't end till tomorrow, so it was unlikely that the council would send anyone for them. It would be better for the council to wait until they returned to duty tomorrow, so then, the question remained... whose skimmers were currently on Terra Mesa if Starling's and all the Storm Hawks were here in the base?_ Cold fear suddenly gripped Aerrow as he realised there was only _one_ likely explanation, "Get to your rides, we need to get into the air _now_!" Aerrow cried as he leapt from bed, barrelled out of the cabin and bee lined for the Skimmer shed. The others weren't far behind him, Radar jumped into his usual seat as Aerrow gunned out of the shed, the others jumped out of the way before rushing for their own skimmers. Aerrow turned towards a clear patch of ground and revved the engine to max before Radar opened the wings and Aerrow pulled them into a steep spiraling climb, once above the trees Aerrow orientated himself and looked in the direction that Starling and Piper had left the depression, and _prayed_ that he was wrong. To Aerrow's utter terror he saw six roughly built skimmers rise out of the trees, the Raptor's insignia painted on the sides, uttering a growl of anger he dove straight for the intruders drawing one of his blades. The Raptors didn't see him coming until it was too late and Aerrow was able to clip the wings of the closest skimmer forcing it's pilot to jump onto a compatriots skimmer, Aerrow then climbed again and prepared to come around for a second run, it was as he was swinging round that he noticed Piper and Starling, their clothes and hair wet, unarmed and hands bound, prisoners of the Raptors. Starling was forced to ride on Repton's skimmer who kept a firm hold of his prize, Piper was with Horek and was currently struggling to get free, the Raptor was far stronger than her however and was easily capable of keeping her under control.

Aerrow uttered another growl of anger and dived for Horek, determined to free his squad mate, the other Raptors were now ready for him however and moved to intercept him, firing blasters which forced Aerrow to serve away at the last minute. Aerrow prepared for a third attack run but saw that the Raptors not carrying their friends were acting as escort, protecting Horek and Repton, there was no way for him to get close. However, he _had_ slowed them down and as he was trying to come up with a new plan, an explosion took out the engines of Tokka's skimmer forcing him to copy Klaus and jump Skimmer. Aerrow looked round to see Finn, Junko and Stork arriving and begin taking up positions around the Raptors to try and prevent them from leaving the Terra

Aerrow now turned to Repton "It's over Repton, give back our friends and we'll let you crawl back to Terra Bogaton with your tails between your legs!" Aerrow shouted

Repton uttered a harsh growl and turned to face Aerrow, bringing his squadron to a halt, before motioning to Horek, seeing the motion, Horek put his weapon to Piper's throat

"No wait!" the Storm Hawks all shouted at once

Repton was now smiling, revealing his rows of teeth, "Got your attention now do I, good, so listen up, I have no orders regarding you little friend here," he said gesturing to Piper, "She's just a bonus that I intend to present to Master Cyclonis, however if I _need_ to kill her, _I will_!"

None of the Storm Hawk's doubted Repton's resolve; after all, this was the cold-bloodied Reptile who had slaughtered the Interceptors, save Starling. Aerrow gritted his teeth in frustration as Repton continued "You're going to let us go _Storm Hawks_ or your friend here gets a one way ticket to the Wastelands!" Repton growled

Aerrow was at a loss for what to do, he couldn't let them kill Piper, but he also couldn't let the Raptors get away with this, he couldn't let them kidnap his friends. Starling saw his indecision and felt fear grip her _I can't go through that pain again, not again, especially when_ _ **he**_ _is the cause_. "Aerrow please do as he says!" Starling shouted

Everyone looked at Starling incredulously, "Starling... what?"

"Please Aerrow, I can't go through that pain again, I just _can't_ , please, I don't want to be responsible for any more death, _please_ Aerrow!" Starling begged, tears streaming down her cheeks

Aerrow looked from her to Piper and saw that Piper's face was one of abject horror, _why? What does Piper know about Starling that_ _ **we**_ _don't?_ He then looked back to Starling who was on the verge of full blown sobs now. Aerrow couldn't take it, as much as he hated seeing his friends get taken like this, he just couldn't bring himself to cause them any pain, suffering... or worse, he sagged in defeat "Storm Hawk's... stand down," he ordered, the others looked at him like he was mad

"Aerrow are you nuts!?" Finn exclaimed

"I SAID STAND DOWN!" Aerrow roared

After that the others didn't argue, Repton simply smiled a smug grin "Wise decision," he taunted before turning his skimmer and speeding off in the direction of Terra Cyclonia, his squadron hot on his heels

"We're not really going to let them get away with this, are we?" Junko asked as he, Finn and Stork came up alongside Aerrow

"Course not big guy, we just need a better game plan that's all, and besides, it's not like we don't know where they're going," Aerrow replied, but as he spoke he couldn't help but think of what Starling had said, _just whose death exactly was she responsible for?_

* * *

 _ **Terra Cyclonia**_

Dark Ace sat at his desk in his chambers in Tower Cyclonia, suddenly his personal radio buzzed three times, Ace smiled as he glanced at where the radio lay beside him on the desk. The buzz's were a special signal Ace and Repton had developed after meeting some years ago, with both of them being non-Cyclonians, both had known after joining the Empire that there was only so far they could advance up the ranks, no matter their achievements. So they had secretly joined forces and began preparing, so that one day, when the chance presented itself, they would be ready to seize power and rise higher than anyone else in all of Atmos' history. A triple buzz meant that Repton had successfully completed his objective and was returning to Cyclonia, Ace knew that Repton would only send the signal if he was free and clear, so rather than answering, Ace turned back to his reading, comforted in the fact that Repton and his captive would be arriving soon. In front of him were a collection of scrolls and a large tome. The information they contained were family trees and genealogy documents on the Cyclonis family (as well as a few legal documents hidden near the bottom), Ace's smile grew as he read through the pages of the tome

"Common physical features of the Cyclonis family are a pointed chin, wide intelligent brow, dark hair and violet eyes, however on occasion the violet is replace with emerald," Ace then turned the page, "Common psychological traits are determination, fortitude, loyalty, but above all else they have a strong sense of _family_." Ace couldn't help the giddiness he felt, _we just need it confirmed, and Lark should take care of that, she's almost as obsessed over this as I' am_ , Ace thought to himself. _Oh my dear Anarchis, or should I say Starling of the Interceptors, you're not as good at blending in as you think._

* * *

 _ **Somewhere in the air between Terra's Mesa and Cyclonia**_

(Piper's pov)

It was safe to say that Piper was _terrified_ , she and Starling were captives of the Raptors and even without navigation equipment she could tell immediately where they were being taken, _we're heading towards Cyclonia_. That thought alone scared her, because if they were heading to Cyclonia, then they were being taken directly to Cyclonis, _what is she up to, first our encounter on Terra Atmosia and now this?_ But this wasn't even her biggest concern, her biggest concern was Starling. The Interceptor hadn't said a word since they'd departed the Terra, leaving the guys watching as the Raptors took them away, _what had she meant, was she talking about her squadron, was she somehow responsible for the ambush... or maybe she_ _ **feels**_ _responsible..._ _ **feels**_ _like it was_ _ **her**_ _fault_

"Starling, Starling what did you mean... Starling please look at me!?" Piper called, but Starling continued to stare at the clouds below them, however, Piper could see enough of her face to see tears tracing down her cheeks

"Be quiet Storm Hawk," Horek growled his tone brooking _no_ argument, so Piper fell silent, her mind whirling as all of the possible scenarios from this situation played through her head, again and again the main question in her mind was, _what had Starling meant?_

(Starlings pov)

Starling couldn't believe she'd been so stupid. _Of course she'd send someone after me, I should have seen this coming, especially after what had happened with Piper... but I didn't, and now we're being taken to Cyclonia... taken to_ _ **her**_. She could feel the tears tracing down her cheeks but was too terrified over what was to come to notice or care. _She knows, there's no way she_ _ **can't**_ _know, at the very least she has good suspicions, or she wouldn't waste resources on a capture, bringing me to Cyclonia is just going to be confirmation. That wouldn't be so bad... if they hadn't dragged Piper into this... what will Piper say when she finds out, knows the full truth, and not from me, but from my sister. Then there's the guys, they'll have to report this to the council, when they do, there's a good chance that the council will tell them... it's all gone wrong, so terribly, horribly_ _ **wrong**_. Starling's sobs intensified, six years of hiding, of carefully guarding the secret of _who_ she was, destroyed in one moment, by the same reptile who had destroyed her squadron, her friends, her second family.

* * *

 _ **The Condor**_

Aerrow stared out of the front window of the bridge, the horizon ahead of them was clear, but he knew the Raptors were just beyond it, "Keep us at this distance to them, we don't want them to know we're following them," Aerrow said to Stork who was at the helm next to him

Stork simply nodded, not saying a word, and kept an eye on their scopes, four pings on their navigation equipment showed the position of the Raptors just beyond the horizon. "Heh Aerrow, we got a call from Terra Atmosia," Finn called from where the radio was positioned

Aerrow raised an eyebrow, then turned to Stork "Maintain heading, we're _not_ abandoning them, not for _anything_ ," Stork didn't need to reply, so simply gripped his controls tighter

Aerrow made his way over to the radio and took the receiver from Finn, "This is Commander Aerrow, whoever this is I'm sorry to say but we're busy at the moment and can't respond to any,"

"Commander Aerrow this is the council," came the voice of the head councilman interrupting Aerrow

Aerrow stiffened, "My apologies Councillor, I didn't know it was you," Aerrow replied

"That's perfectly fine Commander, we weren't planning on making a call, but we've just gotten some disturbing reports in, apparently there's talk that Raptors are on Terra Mesa, is this true?" the Councillor asked

"Not anymore Councillor, they've left the Terra and we're currently tracking them," Aerrow informed

"I see, could we speak with Skyknight Starling perhaps, get her report, it is _her_ Terra after all that was attacked?" the Councillor asked

Aerrow hesitated here and looked round at Finn, Junko, Radar and Stork, _what do I say?_ Aerrow thought, "Is there a problem Commander?" Came the Councillor's voice when Aerrow didn't answer straight away

Aerrow sighed, lying wasn't going to get them anywhere, "I'm sorry Councillor, but that isn't possible right now," Aerrow replied

"Why not, where's Commander Starling?"

"Starling _and_ Piper were captured by the Raptors, they flew off with them, we attempted to stop them but Repton threatened to kill Piper if we tried, when he did that Starling practically _begged_ us to let them go." Aerrow said, trying to get all the information out as quickly as possible in as clear a voice as possible

"Starling said that?" The Councillor replied shocked

"Yes, but she seemed incredibly distraught, she didn't _want_ to do it but..." Aerrow trailed off here

"But what Commander?"

Aerrow sighed, there was no avoiding it "She said that she couldn't take being responsible for more death, that she couldn't take that pain again," Aerrow explained

There was no reply, but Aerrow could feel the tension in the air, he got brave, and decided to ask a question of the council "Do you know what she was talking about Councillors?"

More silence and then "She didn't tell you?"

The Storm Hawks all looked at one another, "Tell us what?"

A sigh emanated through the speakers of the radio, "That _foolish_ girl, why did she wait, why delay?" came a muttered reply, then the Councillor continued, "Starling of the Interceptors is a lie, a fabrication to hide her _true_ identity."

All action on the bridge stopped, Stork turned away from his controls, Junko stopped ferrying supplies, and Finn looked up from the maintenance he was running on his crossbow while listening. Aerrow simply stood frozen, Radar standing next to the radio on the table in front of him, looking up at Aerrow concerned, "W-what are you talking about?" Aerrow asked

"Starling's true identity is Anarchis Cyclonis the Second, first born daughter of Corvin and Cecilia Cyclonis, granddaughter of Anarchis Cyclonis the First, and older sister to Lark Cyclonis, the _current_ Master of Cyclonia." The Councillor responded

The bridge was filled with nothing but the thrumming of the engines, and even that small sound seemed deafening in the silence, finally Aerrow spoke, his voice barely a whisper "She's a Cyclonis?" his voice flooded with disbelief

"Yes, she is, according to her she ran away from Cyclonia six years ago, shortly after arriving in the Free Atmos territories she was discovered by Traven and the Interceptors, they believed her story and determined that she wasn't a threat. Traven brought her to us and gave us a full report, including that he planned to adopt her; we were of course less than pleased with this and tried to get Traven to relinquish her to us so that we could arrest her," the Councillor explained

"Arrest her, for what, just being Cyclonian, or had she done something!?" Aerrow exclaimed

"From our past experiences, _all_ Cyclonians were dangerous, and Anarchis wasn't just _any_ Cyclonian, she was a _Cyclonis_! We were trying to be careful, but Traven talked us down and we allowed her to go and live on Terra Mesa with him and his mother Ana Traven," the Councillor explained exasperatedly

No one spoke for a while after that, then Finn twigged something "Wait, if Starling is Lark's _older_ sister, then why isn't _she_ Master Cyclonis!?"

"She was _meant_ to be, but as we said, she ran away, we believe just a few days before her coronation, and that is where her words stem from," the Councillor answered

"What do you mean?" Aerrow asked nervously, not liking where this was going

"A few months after she ran away, Lightning Strike put together his plan to assault Terra Cyclonia directly, and end the war."

If anything, the silence here was even greater than the last, as, one by one, the pieces clicked for each Storm Hawk. Lightning Strike had been the leader of the original Storm Hawks, and Aerrow's father, add to this, both Piper's mother and Finn's own father had both been part of the original squadron, and _none_ of them had made it back, from their last, now _infamous_ , mission.

Aerrow felt cold suffuse his body and it took everything he had to stop his voice from cracking as he asked his next question "What does that have to do with Starling?"

"Think about it Aerrow, your father launched that attack because of the rumours of the disrupted Cyclonian leadership, he believed that is was the perfect time to strike and end the war, of course Dark Ace had other plans. But if Anarchis had remained and been crowned, it's possible that Cyclonia's leadership would have remained strong, deterring Lightning from attacking, and maybe giving him the chance to detect Ace's treachery. The Storm Hawk's and so many other squadrons would have been spared, she isn't _directly_ responsible, but Anarchis – or rather Starling at that time – _blames_ herself for what happened, for the slaughter of the Skyknights and orphaning their descendants... including you and the majority of your squadron." After the explanation the silence fell again, no one breathing a word, and then Aerrow spoke

"Do _you_ blame her?" the other Storm Hawks were shocked at how _cold_ Aerrow's voice sounded

"No, we wanted to, I freely admit we looked constantly for any excuse to lock her up, we didn't fully trust her and still don't. But with regards to Lightning's attack, we knew it wasn't her fault, there was no way she could have known the long term consequences of running away. We tried to blame her for what happened to the Interceptors, but a thorough investigation by Suzi Lu and the Absolute Zero's uncovered evidence that showed us otherwise, though no one besides ourselves and Starling knew that, the Zero's simply wanted to do right by their comrades and discover the truth of what happened. _Had_ they discovered evidence that implicated Starling, I'm sure we would have known about it."

Again, no one spoke for some time, it was the Councillor who broke it this time "Storm Hawks we would like you to return to Terra Atmosia, we'll summon other squadrons and begin drawing up rescue plans for Piper, crystal mages – especially skilled ones – are rare and we can't afford to lose our best to Cyclonia. When can we expect,"

"NO!" Aerrow growled, interrupting the Councillor

"W-what did you say Commander?"

"I said NO, we're tracking the Raptor's _now_ , if you want to sit and plan then go ahead, _we're_ going to rescue our friends!" Aerrow snarled, his voice making it clear he wasn't going to argue this

"Commander Aerrow this is an order, return to Terra Atmosia immediately!" the Councillor replied

"We don't abandon our friends... our _family_ , sorry Councillor but if you want to stop us, you're just going to have to come after us!" Aerrow growled reaching for the off switch on the radio

"THIS IS INSUBORDINATION COMMANDER, WE WILL NOT TOLER-" but the Councillor never got to finish his sentence as Aerrow switched off the radio and tossed the receiver onto it

"Junko, toss this thing out the window please," Aerrow said calmly as the Storm Hawks watched him return to his earlier position at the front of the bridge

Finn joined him "We're still going after them, even knowing..." Finn trailed off

"Yes Finn, it doesn't matter what her last name is, to us she's Starling, our _friend_ and right now she and Piper _need_ our help, we're _not_ letting them down," Aerrow said sternly

The other Storm Hawks all looked at one another, then Finn turned back to Aerrow "We got a plan?"

Aerrow smiled, "Of course Finn, I picked up a few things from the two of them, when we're done, Cyclonia won't know what hit it."

* * *

 _ **Terra Atmosia**_

The head Councillor threw down the receiver angrily, "We shouldn't really have expected any different from them, this is the _Storm Hawks_ we're talking about," the councillor to his right said

The head of the council nodded, then gave a wry smile, "we'll court martial them when they get back."

The others all nodded while smiling, "A slap on the wrist should do for a successful mission," one of the others said, and the entire council chuckled at that

* * *

 _ **Terra Cyclonia**_

Piper was shaking, she couldn't help it, the dark skies, the chains that bound her wrists, the dozens of Talons glaring at her, she was _terrified_ and everyone around her knew it. The Raptors lead them through the halls of Tower Cyclonia, they passed some familiar faces on the way, both Snipe and Ravess looked on shocked as Repton sauntered through the halls looking like the cat that just caught the canary (which _technically_ he had, but not just any canary, a Starling _and_ a Hawk). Dark Ace's reaction was more reserved, he was surprised to see Piper there, but other than that just bore a smug smile on his face. After traversing many halls they finally arrived at their destination, Cyclonis's lab, the doors opened ominously revealing a large machine with spider like appendages that would pick up crystals from the surrounding selves and insert them into the machine, each time they did there was a flash of purple light, standing in front of the machine was _her_ , Master Lark Cyclonis.

The Raptors forced Starling and Piper to their knees behind Repton who also descended to one knee, his Raptors following suit, "Your Highness, I have completed the mission you tasked me with, and even scored a little bonus I'm sure you will be pleased with," Repton declared

The machine stopped, and Cyclonis slowly turned around, her eyes first fell on Repton who had his head bowed respectively (his Raptors were doing the same), then they travelled to Starling who was staring at the floor. Her tears had stopped some time ago and now she was just unresponsive to all but the simplest stimuli, then Cyclonis's gaze fell on Piper, and now her eyes widened in true surprise. Unlike the others, Piper met her gaze, refusing to look away or show the fear she felt building in her chest, then Cyclonis broke eye contact and looked to Repton "Your mission was to capture Starling, why is Piper here?"

"When I captured Starling, Piper was with her, I believed you would be pleased with the unexpected bonus of _her_ capture, was I mistaken Master?" Repton explained

Cyclonis's gaze fell back to Piper, then she smiled, "No, in fact, this is _much_ better, a fantastic job Repton, I need no time for consideration," with that she turned towards a nearby desk and picked up a sealed scroll. "Take this to the Quarter Master, it is my approval for the Raptors to receive _equal_ priority with the Talon Elites for the new skimmer upgrades, you've earned them."

Repton looked up in surprise but also glee at this news and happily reached out to accept the scroll, "Thank you Master Cyclonis, you will not regret this decision, we will make good use" but Repton was interrupted when Cyclonis pulled the scroll away just before it entered Repton's hands

"What of the _other_ Storm Hawks? Did you also take care of them, or did you allow them to escape?" Cyclonis asked, Piper couldn't help smirking as she saw Repton grow uncomfortable

"Erm the others, well you see, we caught Starling and Piper while they were separated from the others and made all haste back to Cyclonia once we had them, the others tried to stop us so I threatened Piper's life to prevent them from doing so, they backed off after that," Repton explained

"I see, then the Storm Hawks are currently on their way here, if they're not here already, to rescue the two of them," Cyclonis said matter of factly as she gestured at Piper and Starling

"I did not have orders concerning the Storm Hawks and I _still_ completed my objective!" Repton exclaimed, though Piper could hear the slight pleading tone behind his voice

"Correct, but by getting the Storm Hawks involved you have now compromised my plans, which could turn this success into a failure," Cyclonis replied in a stern tone, real fear now entered Repton's features

Then Cyclonis sighed, "Of course I suppose this could be just an unforeseen eventuality, so I will forgive you this once, but in the future Repton, _think_ before you act, am I clear?"

"Crystal, your highness," Repton replied, bowing his head lower than before, his Raptors copying him

"Good, now take your reward and get out!" Cyclonis growled. Repton quickly accepted the scroll, bowed his head again, but then "Do you not want someone to stay with you while you interrogate the prisoners, I mean what if they try-"

"I SAID GET OUT!" Cyclonis roared, each Raptor (Repton included) jumped to their feet and fled, the door closing behind them with an ominous _boom_

Cyclonis then turned to Starling and Piper, "Stand up, _both_ of you!" she ordered, they stood (it wasn't like they had much choice in the matter)

"What is it you want Cyclonis, what are you up to!?" Piper cried

"Be quiet Piper," Cyclonis replied almost robotically, and Piper saw that she had eyes _only_ for Starling. She approached the stricken Skyknight and raised her chin so she could look Starling in the eye; "It _is_ you, isn't it?" the words were said with only the barest hint of doubt, however, Starling did not respond, she simply continued to stare straight ahead of her

Cyclonis now grew angry, she pulled her hand back and _slapped_ Starling "ANSWER ME!" she shouted

Starling remained silent, so Cyclonis pulled her hand back to slap her again, "Lark stop, please, can't you see she's had enough already!" Piper yelled

Cyclonis froze, then her gaze turned to Piper, "Why do you say that like you _know_ it really is my name?" she asked, Piper stiffened as she realized she had now made herself a target

Cyclonis turned fully to Piper, and reached out her hand to her staff, the object floated across the room to its Master, "Well Piper, I'm waiting for an answer?"

Piper gulped, "Starling told me," she answered

"Oh and how could _she_ know?" Cyclonis asked, though something in her voice told Piper Cyclonis already knew how

Piper continued on regardless "She told me that she's Cyclonian, that the two of you were friends, and that she was forced to run away when her family's allegiances to yours put her in danger."

"Is that what she told you, truthfully?" Cyclonis asked, an edge to her voice

"Yes," Piper said nodding

"LIES! DON'T LIE TO ME PIPER, TELL ME THE TRUTH, TELL ME WHAT SHE _REALLY_ TOLD YOU!" Cyclonis roared advancing on Piper, staff sparking with electricity

"It's the truth I swear!" Piper pleaded backing away in fear, but tripping over her own feet in the process, now Cyclonis was above her, preparing to strike. Piper braced herself for pain as a bolt of lightning erupted from the staff, but then it curved away, and _towards_ Starling whose eyes had regained their focus. Starling directed the bolt with her hands sending it flying out a high window, before collapsing to her knees, her back to the two of them, panting.

Both Piper and Lark looked at Starling, incredulously for the former, shocked for the latter, then Lark spoke in barely a whisper "I _knew_ it," Piper looked to her and then to Starling

"Starling, how did you just do that?" Piper asked

It was Cyclonis who answered however "Isn't it obvious Piper, she's a crystal mage."

"That's not possible, there are only a few crystal mages in existence and the skill is incredibly rare, if she was a crystal mage then..." but Piper trailed off as a key piece of information resurfaced in her mind, _Starling is a Cyclonian, she told me so herself, and the only way she could have redirected that lightning bolt is if she was a crystal mage, but that means!_

"Piper of the Storm Hawks, may I present to you my older sister, Anarchis Cyclonis the Second."

* * *

 **Yea yea I know, big reveal at the end there, I think most readers figured that one out a few chapters ago, I hope the part about Lightning Strike was good though, maybe rub some of you in the feels, create some drama.**

 **Speaking of feels and drama, just you guys wait, I have something real special planned, I've been waiting all throughout writing this, but now we've _finally_ arrived at the point where my originally inspiration for this story comes into play, all I'll tell you is this, that OC I mentioned way back in the authors note of Chapter 1 who, _had_ an impact on the story will be coming into play during the next couple of chapters, so stay tuned and as always, please leave a review if you like this story and constructive criticism is welcome ; )**


	8. Chp8: The Choices we make

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **Hello all I'm back, and shoot, I just missed the three day mark I made last time, ah well, four days will have to do. First thing I want to say is that this chapter is the LONGEST of the bunch, I had a specific start and end in mind for this chapter, but the space between was a little longer than I first envisioned, so yea this one is even longer than chapter 6. Next the OC that will be brought in here, if you guys want a framework for his design, think Arygyn the guys who trains the Storm Hawks but darker and more chaotic looking, also while we're on that subject, there is going to be a SONG in this chapter. This song was the original inspiration behind this story, credit for the song goes to the you-tubers DuoCartoonist, if you want to know whats going on visually during the song I suggest going to watch their video entitled 'Trust in Me' original song and simply replace the characters as necessary. I do believe that's it, so... oh wait wait one last thing before I forget, there are a LOT of flashbacks in this chapter and ALL of them are from Starling's point of view, ok, ok, lets roll this thing ; )  
**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Dear Readers all, welcome back, to Choices**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The Choices we make**

 **Cyclonia's main hanger**

Aerrow, Finn, Junko, Stork and Radar peered over the crates at the back of the hanger to observe their opposition, sneaking in hadn't been a problem, there were dozens of sewer pipes poking out of the lower parts of the Terra and the thick cloud cover hid the _Condor_ quite effectively. Not the most pleasant way to get into the Terra, but that hadn't been the guys concern, now the challenge was finding their way to Piper and Starling and getting off the Terra while attracting as little attention as possible, and Aerrow had already thought of how they could do that. On the other side of the hanger where it opened up into the sky a small cruiser was secured for repairs, currently there was very little activity around it as work had finished for the day, the only Talons nearby were those on guard duty. Below the cruiser was a landing platform where a large number of skimmers had been parked and two larger cruisers were secured either side of the platform, if the smaller cruiser was to fall it would collide with the platform bellow it, destroying dozens of skimmers and severely damage the two cruisers. All they had to do was make it look like an accident and the destruction would become the perfect distraction to infiltrate deeper into the Terra.

Aerrow ducked back down behind the crates, the others following suit, "Ok, we need to make this look accidental, so, any ideas?"

Finn poked his head back around the crates, and then on impulse looked up, "There," he said pointing

The others all looked up as well and saw a series of metal beams crisscrossing the ceiling of the hanger, as well as providing support for the hanger ceiling they also held a pulley system that was helping to hold the cruiser in its position. The pulley system looked old, and some parts were showing the beginnings of rust, if they were to give out altogether the supports wouldn't be able to hold the cruiser's weight and would give, causing the ship to topple towards the platform below.

"Good eyes Finn, Radar see if you can get up there and cause some of those pulleys to fail, that should do nicely," Aerrow said, Radar saluted and ran over to some pipes, then began climbing, once reaching the crossbeams he picked his way carefully across them. Meanwhile the others below got in position to rush through the hanger doors once the guards responded to the 'accident' they intended to create. Radar reached the first pulley, but shook his head at it, it had clearly been replaced and maintained recently and disabling it would cause too much suspicion. He moved on to the next, which was more weathered, he pulled off a small backpack he was wearing, it was meant for Piper and contained a collection of crystals, however it now came in handy for something to use to disable the pulley. Radar removed an aqua crystal and stuffed it into a gap in the metal and machinery, for this they were using basic chemistry, metal, water and air don't mix well and a little extra rust would weaken the pulley just enough to cause it to fail.

On the floor of the hanger Aerrow looked up at Radar "Come on buddy, don't let us down," he muttered

Radar moved onto the next pulley, moving from one to the next, those that looked sufficiently rusted over he inserted aqua crystals into, once he'd gotten at least half of them done he quickly scampered over to a point above the hanger doors, and then braced as time ran out on the first crystal. Aqua crystals were unique in that once they'd made contact with moisture laden air their dissolved, well with Cyclonia wracked by storms it was constantly filled with moisture, so now the pulleys that Radar had chosen became soaked in water, the amount of rust had not just been about turning away suspicion from sabotage, but would also cause the reaction to speed up considerably as the water evaporated or was absorbed by the rust. The pulleys rusted right through in just a few minutes, and a groaning began to emanate from them, then one by one the pulleys snapped, the wires they held collapsing to the ground, as one failed, others followed, faster and faster, until they were all gone. A loud ominous groaning filled the hanger, the Talons began looking around nervously as the noise filled the space, then the crossbeams closest to the exit to the hanger began collapsing as the now no longer spread weight of the cruiser pulled them down. Each beam failed with a loud clang and snapping and tearing of metal, like the pulleys, once it started, it only sped up and could not be stopped, and soon all of the pulleys had been destroyed. The supports beneath the cruiser were now overloaded in turn and the cruiser began to topple over and down the drop below, the Talons watched transfixed as the cruiser fell from view, a loud _crash_ came a few moments later followed by a series of explosions, the Talons rushed to the edge and saw the destruction below

"Get the emergency crews down there stat!" one of them shouted as the guards began rushing to respond to the 'accident', leaving the doors into Tower Cyclonia unguarded

Aerrow and the others rushed inside and Radar joined them a few moments later, "Good work buddy," he said ruffling Radar's head, to which the Lemur-Rabbit gave an affectionate chirp back. "Okay, now to find Piper and Starling," he said to which the others just nodded before the team set off in search of their friends.

* * *

 **Cyclonis's Chambers**

" _Sister_ , you're Lark's _sister_!?" Piper exclaimed, staring at Starling from where they were both still seated after Lark had spoken

Starling couldn't look at Piper, so she just nodded

" _This_ is what you were going to tell us?" Piper asked, to which she got another nod

" _Why_ didn't you just _tell_ me, did you think I'd attack you because you were a Cyclonis?" Piper demanded

Starling didn't reply straight away, then finally she looked up at Piper, "I was afraid, you guys were the first friends I'd had outside of the Interceptors, but with them, because of how much older they were than me... I didn't have the same feeling around them as I did with you guys, the feeling I had when I was around you and the other Storm Hawks was something I hadn't felt in over six years." As Starling said the last part, her eyes drifted to Lark, who just stood there, face impassive

"Then there was how you had viewed my sister, believed her to be nothing but a monster, I was afraid that if I told you... that was how you would view me," Starling finished before she began breaking down into sobs yet again

Piper was taken aback by that, but she realized that Starling had a point, until Starling had told Piper more about Lark, she had viewed the Cyclonian Queen as nothing more than a vile Dictator that needed to be stopped. _But I wouldn't have seen Starling like that, she's my friend_ , Piper thought, though considering her vehemence towards Lark just over a week ago, she could understand Starling's fear.

Movement in Piper's peripheral vision brought her attention back to Lark, who was now advancing on Starling; Piper eyed her carefully, while also deciding that now was a good time to get out of these cuffs on her wrists.

" _Six years_ , no word, no note, no explanation, you just disappear for _six years_ , and when I finally find you again, it's only to discover that you've joined our sworn enemy, that you've been fighting alongside them _against_ your own people... so I want to know just one thing, _why_!?" Lark said, her words carefully, clipped and bordering on a rage filled rant

Starling looked at her sister sorrowfully, the tears still rolling down her cheeks, "I never wanted to fight you, I was only trying to protect others, make up for the mistakes I've made," Starling answered, before looking down again, "But it doesn't matter now, none of it does, I was a fool to think I could run forever, that some good deeds would wash away all the wrong I've done, remove the blood... so go ahead Lark, end it, do what you will with me... just please, let Piper go," Starling pleaded

Lark glanced back at Piper (who had made sure not to get caught opening her cuffs) before looking back at Starling, "That's it, you're not even going to try to defend yourself, _explain_ yourself!?" Lark growled back

"Even if I did, I doubt you would understand or even believe me, so what difference does it make, we both know that either way you're just going to get rid of me anyway," Starling said, her tone devoid of emotion

Lark's eyes flared "No, you don't get off that easy, I want ANSWERS, and you're going to give them to me!" she shouted as she pulled back her staff to launch an attack at Starling, who simply sat there unmoving

"I won't fight you Lark, I'm done fighting," she replied, eyes closed and head bowed, just waiting for the end

Lark launched her attack, but a flash of blue went by her and Piper appeared in front of her, one of Lark's shield crystals in her hand, Piper activated the crystal and held it in front of her, the attack hit the shield and dissipated across it. "Wow, I've _got_ to learn how to make this myself," Piper commented as she held the crystal in front of her

"I don't like thieves Piper!" Lark growled before lunging for her, Piper pulled out another crystal and used it to create an energy blast that knocked them all off their feet (or off their kneeling legs as was the case for Starling). The Blast attracted attention though and the doors burst open, Dark Ace came marching in with a group of Talons

"Master Cyclonis are you alright?" Ace asked going over to Lark while the Talons disarmed Piper and got her back in cuffs, two others pulled Starling to her feet

"Yes I'm fine," Lark snapped as she got up and glared at Piper and Starling, "As for those two, take Piper and my _treacherous_ sister to the dungeon!"

Piper saw a look come over Dark Ace's features, but it was gone before she was able to place it, "At once your Highness," Ace replied before turning to the Talons, "Get them out of here!" he ordered, to which the Talons nodded and marched Piper and Starling out. As they left Piper glanced back and saw the look of total defeat on Starling's face as she was marched behind Piper, but more interestingly was the look on Lark's face, it was a confusing mix of emotions, the anger was there, but there was also sorrow and regret. Piper remembered how Starling had described Lark, _"She was kind, caring, but also funny and always pulling pranks, she was such a cheeky little minx."_ Did the old Lark still exist, somewhere beneath the person she had become, behind the mask of a Queen, was there a scared girl still longing to have her sister back, _I'll bet there's only one way to know_ , Piper thought, before the doors closed shut behind them.

* * *

 **Somewhere within Tower Cyclonia**

Aerrow hated to admit it, but they were lost, despite the previous times they'd been here, Tower Cyclonia was almost Labyrinthine in its design, "How do the Cyclonians find their way around in this place?" Finn hissed

Aerrow didn't have an answer for him, then spotted a couple of Talons standing alone on guard duty, looking bored, "Let's find out," he answered

The two Talons were unaware of the Skyknights sneaking up on them, and instead were chatting about the most recent news, "Did you hear, Repton captured two Skyknights," one said

The second scoffed "Yea right, next you'll be saying that Snipe is solving advanced mathematics"

"Heh it's what I heard, speaking of which, what did you make of that loud noise earlier?" the first replied

The second one shrugged "Heard someone got sloppy with maintenance and didn't check all of the pulleys, they rusted through and caused the cruiser they were holding up to topple to the platform below."

The first looked at the second shocked, and then shook his head, "When the Master hears, someone's going to get a court martial, was anyone hurt?"

The second shook his head, "Nah, luckily the platform was deserted and the cruiser that fell was empty, lots of damage, but no injuries,"

"Good, would hate to spoil our record, wouldn't you agree guys?" Aerrow said standing right behind the Talons who both turned slowly to see all four Skyknights standing there with broad smiles on their faces

"Ok fellas listen up, we're going to tie you up and leave you somewhere you won't be found for a couple of hours, but before that, we'd like you to give us directions to the dungeons," Aerrow explained, his tone and the others stances emphasizing that there would be _no_ argument. Both Talons looked at one another, and knew that _they_ were going to be the ones who were court martial'd

* * *

 **Cyclonia's Dungeons**

Piper and Starling were shoved into separate, adjacent cells after their cuffs were removed, once they were inside, the doors were shut, locked and the guards walked off. In her cell Starling collapsed to her knees, "I'm so sorry that you got dragged into this Piper, I never intended for this to happen," Starling said after the footsteps of the guards faded away.

"No, you just wanted us to help you stage a coup and dethrone your own sister," Piper replied, her voice devoid of emotion

"No that's not what I wanted, you're my friends and I would never use you in such a way, I don't even _want_ the throne, I haven't for six years," Starling exclaimed

Piper remained silent, "Piper, please talk to me," Starling pleaded

Still silence, Starling sighed "I don't blame you for hating me because I lied to you, didn't tell you who I was, didn't trust you, I suppose this is my punishment, for everything I've done."

More silence, then finally Piper spoke, "I'm here now, tell me the truth Starling, what happened six years ago, what caused all this?" she demanded, her voice still emotionless

Starling sighed, "Your right, you deserve to know. I told you how different my sister was back when we were kids, well _that_ was the truth, and we did everything together, we were inseparable"

No sound came from Piper's cell, so Starling continued, "You see, our mom got sick while carrying Lark, after Lark was born, mom only got weaker, not stronger, eventually she succumbed to her illness, leaving me and Lark with just our father and grandmother, I was six at the time." Tears traced down Starling's cheeks as she spoke

"I was just old enough for mom to have meant the world to me, but young enough that thanks to now having a baby sister to take care of I recovered quickly, and that was why Lark and I grew so close, I basically raised her during those first few years, heck I even learned how to prepare her milk bottles from one of the kitchen staff." As Starling spoke the memories returned, _Lark crying in the middle of the night, Starling walking her around the room, grandmother watching from the door. She had said it wasn't right that a six year old girl should shoulder so much responsibility, but I hadn't taken no for an answer, she was my little sister, and I didn't trust her with anyone else_.

"As the next four years past Lark and I only grew closer, she gave me the nickname Annie, we were happy. Then the war claims our fathers life, not even a body to recover, grandmother became Queen Regent for the two of us while mourning the loss of her son. As for me and Lark, Lark was too young to fully understand death, plus father had been away so much that he had had very little impact on her life, so while she understood that the rest of us were sad, she couldn't manifest those feelings herself. She paid her respects though with the rest of us." Starling took a breath here, "I was different, at least with mom they'd been some warning, we'd _known_ it was coming, but with father, it was so sudden, however I can remember the exact moment when we learned what had transpired."

* * *

 **(Flashback) Tower Cyclonia-11 years ago**

I was playing on the floor with Lark who was laughing and giggling, we'd been playing 'Adventures' with our toys, giving them names and stories, but it had devolved after an argument into a competition of funny faces. I had just pulled one which left little Lark in hysterics despite her best efforts; grandmother was sitting on a chair off to one side reading a book. No longer the Master of Cyclonia grandmother had time for other things, like looking after us.

As we played there was a knock at the door, "Enter," grandmother called

The doors to the room opened and one of Cyclonia's generals entered the room, his name was Osprey, he was an old blood general and a good friend of father, he was actually supposed to be with father, so when Lark and I saw him we jumped up and rushed to him, game forgotten.

"Osprey, your back, does that mean dads home?" I exclaimed excitedly

"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" Lark cried, jumping up and down excitedly (though purely because I was excited)

"Greetings General, we didn't expect you back so soon, is my son meeting with the other generals or..." but grandmother trailed off, and I had seen why, Osprey's face was drawn, he looked like a man who'd died standing up

"General, where's my son?" grandmother breathed, her tone fearful

Tears traced down the generals cheeks "I'm so sorry your Highness, I'll except whatever punishment you deem appropriate," Osprey said, his voice on the verge of cracking as he sank to his knees in front of grandmother. In my heart I felt something cold settle there, Lark too noticed the change in the room and stopped jumping, looking at all of us

Osprey, head bowed, then spoke "It is with great sorrow that I must report the death of Master Corvin Cyclonis, he died in battle against the Skyknights, his ship suffered severe damage and crashed into the wastelands, we searched the disintegrating wreck for three days before we were finally forced to pull out. We found no trace of him, not even a body to return for burial."

The room was silent, but I could feel the whole world breaking around me, father was dead, I was ten years old, and already an orphan, "NO!" I shouted, "Your lying, he's alive, h-he can't be d-dead, he promised to teach me how to lead, he promised to be here for Lark and me more, so he HAS to be alive, HE CAN'T BE DEAD!"

Osprey's head remained bowed, he was unable to look at me, "Do you hear me, he's alive, you NEED to go back and find him, GO BACK AND FIND HIM!" I screamed, tears pouring down my cheeks as grandmother left her chair and wrapped me in her arms as I began sobbing into them

"Its okay 'My Little Starling', its okay to cry," she said soothingly, her hand stroking my hair as I sobbed, Osprey remained where he knelt, and Lark simply looked on, upset because _we_ were upset, but not understanding _why_.

* * *

 **(Flashback ends)**

Starling wiped her eyes as the memory replayed, "After that, things began changing. Cyclonia lost a lot of ground in the war despite grandmother's best efforts, she was eventually able to stop the degradation, but not before a number of Terras had been lost to the Free Atmos."

Piper still elected to remain silent, but Starling could hear her moving in the next cell, so she was clearly still listening, "With father gone, grandmother decided it was time that Lark and I begin training for the day one of us would ascend to the throne. While we were both crystal mages, I had nowhere _near_ Lark's level of skill and power, my strengths lay in much the same area as father's, physical combat, tactical combat, leadership, I was a warrior leader in the making, like my father."

Starling picked at her sleeve as she talked "So grandmother focused on our strengths, Lark became her personal apprentice, learning _everything_ there was to know about Crystal Magecraft, while I was put under the tutelage of the best Cyclonia had to offer while grandmother oversaw the whole thing."

"Still being kids, Lark and I turned the whole thing into a game; we would each try to do our best to impress grandmother the most by excelling at our studies. It was just a bit of friendly competition between siblings, but beneath it, so deep that not even Lark and I were aware of it, laid a danger." Starling felt the pain stab her chest as the much fresher memories returned to her

"We began pushing ourselves, further and further every day. For me, this just meant I had lots of bruises, or was exhausted from staying up late studying. For Lark however, I'm not sure _how_ she did it, but she created a set of crystals which allowed her to go without sleep after using them. The body _needs_ sleep however, and what she was doing was causing her great harm, even if she was blind to it. I have _no_ idea _when_ she started using the crystals, but if my memory is accurate, she began becoming more drained about two and half years before I ran away, likely meaning that she used the crystals on an ever increasing basis for nearly three years." Starling heard a slight gasp come from the other cell, but no other sound was forthcoming, so she continued

"Grandmother and I found out one fateful morning six years ago, we'd only just sat down to breakfast."

* * *

 **(Flashback) Tower Cyclonia-6 years ago**

I yawned as I entered the dining room where grandmother, Lark and I usually had breakfast. Grandmother was of course already there, but Lark had yet to come down, strange, she was usually down before I was.

"Morning grandma," I said tiredly as I sat at the table across from her

"Good morning 'My Little Starling', not so early bird, are we?" she said smiling

I gave her a wry smile, lately I'd been more tired, I blamed it on the training, grandmother blamed it on the fact that I would stay up late studying and not get a proper night's sleep

"Where's Lark this morning?" I asked

"She hasn't come down yet, I'm actually getting a little worried, she's usually here by now," grandmother replied, she then turned to two Talons standing by the door, "Snipe, Ravess, can you go see what's keeping her, it's possible she's overslept herself this morning, just give her a nudge." Both Snipe and Ravess saluted and marched out

I knew it was bad of me, but I felt a small sense of victory for beating my sister to breakfast, however as I began eating, thoughts from last night while I'd been going through my military history studies came back, and I had to voice my questions to grandmother

"Grandmother, I wanted to ask you some things," I said, grandmother looked over at me from where she sat, reading reports

"Like what Annie?" she asked, using Lark's nickname for me (the shortened version of the name had become the name I preferred to go by)

"I've been thinking about the war, and what the _point_ of it all is," I said

Grandmother looked up from her reports and stared at me, then sighed as she put the reports down, "The point my dear is to protect our people," she stated

"That's not what I read last night, in fact, _no one_ seems to actually know _why_ we're fighting this war, all the sources contradict one another and give different reasons, I brought this up with my instructors yesterday and they _each_ gave me a different answer. 'Punishing the Skyknights for some slights that were committed almost 100 years ago', 'Protecting our people from the oppression of Atmosia', or just because ' _They_ started this, but _we'll_ finish it'" I explained, making sure to show my confusion to her

Grandmother sighed, then smiled "It's natural for youth to pick apart what their ancestors have done, in fact, I'd be disappointed if you just followed blindly," she said, while I looked at her confused

"Your right of course, this war has been going on for so long that no one _really_ remembers the reason it began," she admitted

"Then _why_ are we still _fighting_ , that's pointless, we're just killing each other for no reason!?" I exclaimed, tears brimming in my eyes as I thought of father

I expected grandmother to scold me for my outburst, instead she just nodded "When said that way it does sound bad, but war is always more complicated than it first appears, there's _so_ many other things that need to be taken into consideration. When you are Queen Annie, _you_ will be able to decide what path our people take, you're already making good progress towards that end, even this to me is a sign that you're growing up, maturing. Give it a few more years and I think you will be ready," she stated

I blinked when she talked about me being Queen, "Y-you really think I'm... ready?" I asked, slightly unsure of myself

Grandmother just nodded, "I believe your getting close, you're certainly your father's daughter, strong, independent, determined and intelligent, I think you'll make a fine Queen Annie, and of course, you'll have your sister by your side to help you should you," but grandmother was interrupted when Snipe ran back into the room, _bursting_ through the door

"Your Highness, you must come quickly, it's the princess!" Snipe exclaimed

Grandmother and I were out of our chairs in moments and rushing towards Lark's room, Snipe following behind us. When we arrived we saw the door was open and that medics had already arrived, my heart lurched at the sight of them, Ravess was standing to one side, examining Lark's desk

As we entered grandmother gave a cry as she saw Lark lying prone on the bed, eyes shut, her breathing erratic and sweat coating her forehead "Lark! What happened, tell me what happened!?" she demanded from the medics

"We're still trying to figure that out your Highness, please just stand back, we're doing everything we can," the lead medic informed as I gently pulled grandmother away

Ravess then approached us, "Your Highness, I believe I know the cause of the princess' current condition," she said, while holding up a crystal coloured a sickly green/yellow

Grandmother's eyes widened at the sight of the crystal, "WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS!?" she shouted

To Ravess's credit, she did not flinch, "It was on her work station, there's also a lot of powder that's got the same colour as this crystal, I think she's been using this on herself, however to what end I don't know."

From the look on grandmother's face, _she_ knew "Grandmother, what crystal is this?" I asked

She didn't answer; instead she collapsed to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks.

 **(A few hours later)**

I was sitting with grandmother in her study trying to comfort her, while also holding back my own tears that _desperately_ wanted to burst forth, and then the lead medic arrived looking exhausted. The two of us looked up at him expectantly, "Well? Is she alright, please tell me my granddaughter is alright?" grandmother asked hopefully

"I'm afraid I don't know your highness, I've never seen anything like this before, it's like all her organs are _shutting_ down on their own, like their _starved_ of the energy needed to keep functioning. We've got her on a drip that we hope will bring her out of it, the fluid in the drip is _packed_ with energy rich molecules and it seems to have stabilised her somewhat. The _major_ concern is her heart and lungs, both are acting erratically, performing inefficiently, the heart we can handle, gentle massage to the chest evens it out for a time so the blood flow is steady, but the lungs are more difficult, it's not just how the muscles are contracting, it's like the internal mechanisms are not functioning properly, we have to have a nurse next to her constantly to help her breath. If she runs out of oxygen her heart will give out altogether and we'll lose her." After the explanation grandmother gave a gasp like someone had punched her, and now I was losing the battle to keep my tears at bay

"We'll keep working your Highness, we're not about to give up on her, I've called in some extra help and I intend to make calls to my peers on other Terras with regards to this condition," the medic explained

Grandmother just nodded "Thank you, please do your best, inform me immediately if there's any change." The medic nodded and bowed in response, before returning to work, grandmother simply sank into her chair, sobbing, while clutching a holo-crystal that showed her and Lark sitting together about 4 years ago – Lark seated on grandmothers knee, clutching one of her toys – when Lark had first displayed her natural talent for Crystal Magecraft.

* * *

 **(Flashback ends)**

Starling was forced to dry her eyes and take a few deep breaths as the memories caused the pain to resurface, surprisingly however she found that talking about this felt good, like she'd had a large thorn stuck in her and now she was slowly pulling it out, it hurt, but the relief from working the thorn out overshadowed the pain.

"After the medics told us what Lark's condition was I asked grandmother how she had ended up like that. Grandmother then told me about the crystal and what it did, and that Lark must have made it herself," Starling continued

"She obviously recovered; I'm still not seeing what caused you to run away?" Piper replied confused

"That's the thing, she _wasn't_ recovering," Starling said

"What!?" Piper exclaimed, "But, she's still alive, she clearly made it, how could she have been getting worse and then miraculously survived!?"

Starling gave a dry chuckle, "A miracle, well I _did_ ask for one, know this Piper, be _careful_ what you wish for."

"What do you mean?" Piper asked

Starling sighed, "Grandmother gave into despair, every day that Lark's condition got worse, she slipped further into depression, not me, I'd lost my mother to illness, I'd lost my father to the war, I was _NOT_ going to lose my sister to a combination of both. I spent practically all my time in the Royal archives researching anything and everything I could, looking for _anything_ that could help, that could _save_ my little sister. Well I found what I was looking for."

* * *

 **Tower Cyclonia's Armoury**

Dark Ace entered the armoury and almost immediately spotted Repton speaking with the Quarter Master, Ace waited patiently till he was done, then as Repton made his way out of the armoury he spotted Ace who waved him over.

"What is it?" Repton asked

"The time has come my friend, we're going to seize power here and from there, all of Atmos will be next," Ace informed with a smile

"How exactly?" Repton asked

"Simply my scaly friend, Skyknight Starling," Ace replied

Repton just looked confused

"Also known as, Anarchis Cyclonis the Second," Ace completed a smug smile on his face, a smile Repton soon shared

* * *

 **(Flashback) Tower Cyclonia-6 years ago**

I poured though book after book, scroll after scroll, looking for something, _anything_ that could help, finally my determination paid off, I found a book which described a lab owned by a _powerful_ crystal mage, right there, on Cyclonia, beneath it in fact. I took the book to grandmother, thinking this would be just the thing to bring her out of her depression, then we could save Lark together, but that was not the reaction I got when I brought her the book.

"Grandmother, I found something that could help, we need to find this lab, it's beneath the Terra," I exclaimed excitedly as I rushed into grandmother's room, book in hand

Grandmother looked up from where she was sitting by one of the rooms windows, when she saw the book her eyes widened in horror, "Where did you find that!?" she shouted

I took a step back, suddenly unsure, this was not the reaction I was expecting, "T-the Royal Archives," I replied

"Give it here Annie, NOW!" grandmother responded as she stood up shakily from her chair

I was about to hand it to her, but then pulled it back and stepped away, "No, this book has information that could help us save Lark, there's a lab and" but grandmother interrupted me

"Nothing good can come from that book OR that lab, their dangerous Annie and the man who owned them _even_ more so, NOW GIVE IT HERE!?" she roared

Now I grew angry, "NO, this could be our only chance to save Lark, I'm _not_ giving it up!" I shouted as I ran out of the room, grandmother shouted after me but I ignored her, a part of me now wishes I'd listened to her though.

I didn't stop running, I followed the book and went in search of the lab, it took hours and led me into the deepest, darkest parts of the Terra, but finally I found it, the lab of Discord. The door was large and heavy, but when I went to open it the door swung easily, inside looked very much like grandmother's own lab, just with a lot more dust and cobwebs.

"Hello," I called, though I wasn't sure to whom, "Is anyone here, I need help?" my voice echoed around the empty space. As I made my way deeper in I walked past a large, circular, broken mirror, then all of a sudden there was a _whoosh_ of air which forced me to brace myself and close my eyes. When I opened them, the damage and neglect the room had suffered was gone, the cobwebs and dust cleared, and candles were lit all around the room. I noticed that the mirror was now repaired, and in its reflection I saw a throne, with a figure seated in it, I whirled around to face the figure.

The figure was a tall man, he wore a fancy if rather ridiculous looking get up that was all manner of dark chaotic colours, his face reminded me of father but there were key differences, it was slightly more pointed than fathers and in addition he had one canine that seemed to protrude at an odd angle. He also bore a goatee that began directly underneath his chin and dangled from it for about six inches, the hair of the goatee, as well as the frizzy mane on his head was stark white, and to complete the look, a pair of mismatched eyes, one violet, the other emerald.

"Welcome my dear, to my _humble_ abode, my name is Discord Cyclonis, what may I do for you?" he asked, the voice sounded powerful, but at the same time I felt like I was being toyed with, the one thing I was sure of was that this was a man very sure of _himself_ , I would have to tread carefully.

" _You're_ Discord, and you're a Cyclonis?" I asked

"Indeed, but _who_ may I ask are you?" he replied

I took a breath, "My name is Anarchis Cyclonis the Second, I've come here seeking help to save my sister," I said confidently

" _Anarchis_ , how... interesting, well far be it from me to turn away family, how would you like me to help you?" Discord replied, a smug smirk on his face

"I want to see the future, I want to know my sister is going to be okay, she's very sick and... I can't lose her, she means the world to me," I explained

Discord stroked his goatee as he studied me, "Really, that's quite the request, luckily I can facilitate it," he said standing and walking over to the mirror, he passed a hand in front of it causing the mirror to go from showing just a plain reflection, to an eerie green colour that seem to swirl on the other side of the glass. I was about to approach the mirror when Discord stopped me, "You know for beings of this world there really is no point looking into the future, it is just the natural order of things that your _choices_ made. _But_ if it means that much to you, go ahead and face the mirror," he said, continuing once he saw the desperate look on my face

He stepped aside and I stepped forward, and looked into the mirror, it looked like smoke swirled on the other side of the glass, but as I stared the smoke parted and revealed Lark lying in bed, her condition worsening by the second. Discord came up behind me as I gasped my hands going to my mouth as I saw how bad Lark was, meanwhile Discord's hands came to my shoulders, "It seems things have _aggravated_ since you came to my humble abode my dear," he said, his tone making him sound like he was enjoying my pain as I stared in shock at my sisters state, "Don't act so surprised, you wouldn't have risked it all coming down here if you trusted the doctors at all, but you asked to see the future, so let's see what fate has designed," he continued with glee

The smoke filled the mirror once again, but it didn't stay long, as it parted, I saw myself kneeling next to a grave, a grave which read 'Lark, beloved sister'. The sight made me feel like a knife had just been punched through my chest, "Lark, no, no, no, NO!" I turned to Discord, "That can't be right, it-it has to be wrong?" I pleaded

Discord simply smirked at me "Deny it all you wish, but what you've seen is what's coming and my powers cannot change it. Of course I was young once too, and much like you I wanted to change fate and bend it to my will, and that's why I was thrown in here, to _rot_!" he taunted, chuckling as he finished

I refused to give up though, "There, has to be a way," I said desperately

"I can't help your sister Princess," Discord continued walking past me before stopping and turning half back around, "But maybe, _you_ can, I'll make you a deal, and we will see what's in your _hearts_ ," he said producing a scroll out of thin air as he did. "Sign this and I promise that _both_ your futures will change _forever_ , there will be a price to pay, but I won't tell you what it is, call it a _blind_ agreement."

I reached a hand out for the quill in order to sign the scroll, but then my grandmother's words of warning came back to me, and I withdrew my hand, "I'm not sure I trust you," I said

"Oh but my dear we're family, you can trust in me," Discord replied

 **(Song starts here)**

 _You_ _want_ _to change what lies ahead_

 _For you_ _dread_ _what you've just seen through the glass_

 _So if you pay the_ _price_ _and you make a deal with me_

 _The day she takes her_ _final_ _breath will_ _never_ _come to pass!_

 _You can 'trust in me', I'm not as bad, as you've been told_

 _You'll find I'm rather fair_

 _To save your sister you_ _need_ _to sign the scroll_

 _I understand you have your reservations_

 _Not knowing what I'll ask from you_

 _It's reason to think twice_

 _But I give you my word you both will be safe and sound_

 _Although you'll soon learn magic never comes without a PRICE!_

 _You can 'trust in me', I'm not as bad, as you recall_

 _You'll find I'm quite sincere_

 _To change your future you have to risk it all!_

 **(As the song closes Annie (aka Starling) snatches the quill and signs the scroll)**

Discord, clutched the signed scroll in his hand, a broad devious smile on his face, "Thank you my dear," he said as he began chuckling

As he did, I felt the sensation of sinking, I looked down to see myself disappearing into the floor, fear gripped me instantly and I opened my mouth to call for help, it never happened as I felt a wave of drowsiness overwhelm me and passed out.

I awoke in my room with Ravess sitting next to me a concerned look on her face, "Thank goodness, we thought we'd lost you as well, how are you feeling your Highness?" she asked

"Ok," I replied, "What happened?"

"You ran off after your argument with your grandmother, we sent search parties after you, they found you in the lower passages passed out," Ravess explained

I gave a groan from how much my head hurt, I must have hit it, but then memories began returning, the _deal_ I had made, then something Ravess said registered with me. "Ravess, what did you mean you thought you'd lost me _too_?"

Ravess shifted uncomfortably, "What's happened, is Lark okay, she's not..." but I couldn't finish the sentence

Ravess immediately began shaking her head, "Oh no, Lark is fine, in fact the doctors say she's turned a corner and her body is starting to recover, it will be a while before she's fully recovered and she may never fully heal, but she's going to make it."

I breathed a sigh of relief, but then frowned in confusion, "So then... wait, what were you talking about?"

Raves sighed "After you ran out on her, your grandmother collapsed, the doctors did all they could for her, but she passed away just a few hours ago, I just heard myself," Ravess explained, while I felt cold suffuse my body, " _You_ are now Master Cyclonis, your Highness," Ravess finished

* * *

 **(Flashback ends)**

Piper stopped what she was doing, _first her mother, then her father, and then she almost loses Lark and after saving her, she loses her grandmother. To say nothing of what happened with the Interceptors later, Starling's whole life has just been filled with death_. Suddenly Starling's words when the Raptors had threatened Piper's life made a lot more sense, "So you became Queen then?" Piper asked

"Not exactly, I was due to be crowned, but the coronation wasn't until _after_ grandmother's funeral, until then I was _recognized_ as Master Cyclonis, but it wasn't official," Starling explained

"Still not seeing how this would cause you to run away, unless it was for selfish reasons?" Piper stated

Starling sighed, "After my encounter with him I decided to do more research on Discord, I discovered that he was my granduncle, my grandmother's younger brother."

"Go on," Piper called

"Back when they were young adults, both of them had been favored for the throne, however, grandmother gained it in the end, Discord meanwhile began to feel like he was being treated like a tool, a weapon or asset, and though there was real cause behind these feelings, it was not something my grandmother was doing deliberately." Starling explained, "eventually it became too much and Discord _snapped_ he attempted to take over get rid of my grandmother, but she ended up beating him, before she could lock him away though in his own specially made prison, he declared that one day, history would repeat itself with _her_ own family, that she would have descendants who would repeat their conflict and tear her family apart in the process."

"What does that have to do with you?" Piper asked

Starling sighed, "Lark and I were those descendants," she explained

* * *

 **(Flashback (last one I promise)) Tower Cyclonia-6 years ago**

I sat on grandmother's throne, _no, my throne now_ , the thought did not make me feel happy, it only made me remember that grandmother was dead, and I was now shouldered with all her responsibility. In front of me the various advisors and generals of Cyclonia were gathered, giving their reports on the current situation in the Empire

"It's not looking good your Highness, your grandmother commanded great respect and with her gone many of our more far flung Terras are starting to get uppity," a rather pompous noble explained

"What do you mean?" I asked, eyebrow raised

The noble stood up straighter "The outer Terras are calling for an immediate end to hostilities with the Free Atmos, at least until stability is restored, some are outright demanding an end to the war altogether," the noble explained

One of the general scoffed "Bah, cowards, the lot of them, let them whine we have bigger things to worry about." A general murmur of agreement spread throughout the others

"I wouldn't be so quick to disregard them, they've threatened to break from the Empire if we don't hear them out," said another noble, perhaps the least pompous looking one in the group

"What would be the repercussions if we ignored them?" I asked

The noble who had just spoken looked to me "They'd likely rebel, and while we would outnumber them their forces are full of experienced front line forces that have been fighting for decades, not to mention they might get support from the Free Atmos if it meant defeating us."

The general who'd spoken earlier stepped forward here, "If they do rebel then their traitors and we'll _crush_ them as we've done with any who would dare turn on our glorious Empire!" he exclaimed forcefully, once again to the agreement of many others

I sat in thought, "What would happen if we took their side, and began discussing at the very least a ceasefire?" I asked

The noble took up the thread again, "likely the same problem just in reverse, with the core Terras rebelling, and that would put you and your sister in direct danger your Highness," he explained

I could feel a headache forming, "So what we need is a solution that everyone is happy with that will appease both the core and outer Terras correct?"

The noble nodded "Yes your Highness, we" but he was interrupted by the general

"Why should we give into the demands of weaklings at all, just ignore them your Highness, the majority of them know that to cross the Empire is to bring destruction upon themselves!" he said loudly, his supporters once again muttering their ascent

I had had it, "ENOUGH!" I shouted, then turned to the noble who'd been speaking

"As I was saying your Highness, we could seek to appease both by giving the outer Terras what they want while also showing favour to the core Terras," he explained

I raised an eyebrow "Showing favour, what exactly did you have in mind?"

The Noble straightened out his tunic, "Well the _greatest_ display of favour would be marriage, specifically, yours and your sisters marriage to any of the leading families on the core Terras," his words actually gained interest from the others gathered there, but not from me.

"Marriage, you want me to wed, my _nine_ year old sister, off to some person she's _never_ met!?" I shouted

"We would betroth her, your highness, she wouldn't actually wed her groom until reaching the age of sixteen, the same with you, but even a betrothal will show the core Terras that we hold them in high regard, marriages with the most powerful families on the two most influential core Terras would secure their loyalty, while discussing the possibility of a ceasefire would placate the outer Terras." The Nobles words were met with many approving nods and mutters

I was still disgusted with the idea however, "Myself I can understand, I'm 15 and this is something I would have to consider soon, but my sister is still only a child! That you would even DARE suggest this!" I roared, causing the nobles and generals to back away in fear, all except the one who'd suggested it

"It was only a suggestion you Highness, I'm sure _another_ solution will present itself," he said before bowing and leaving, knowing he was likely no longer welcome. I dismissed the others shortly afterwards and sat in thought, despite how much I wanted to find another way, I knew there was no _other_ way

I closed my eyes as tears brimmed in them "I'm so sorry Lark."

 **(The day before Anarchis Cyclonis the First's funeral)**

Lark _burst_ into the room, the doors flying open with a _bang_ , a look of utter _fury_ on her young face, I knew what this was about, but I'd been hoping she wouldn't find out for a few more days

"What's the meaning of this!?" Lark shouted

I sighed "I don't have time for this Lark," I replied

"No, you never have ANY time for me anymore, you're always locked in your room or busy with your advisors, you NEVER came to see me after I woke up, you haven't ONCE spoken to me apart from what was absolutely necessary, and now I learn that your sending me away to be married off to some Noble's son on another Terra!?" Lark ranted

My aids quickly scurried out of the room, aware that they should probably make themselves scarce

"It's not like I _wanted_ to do this Lark, but it _has_ to be done, I'm only trying to keep us safe," I explained

"BULLSHIT! Your hiding something form me I know it, why don't you ever talk to me anymore, what happened to you Annie, when did you STOP being my sister!?" Lark shouted

We continued to argue, until finally we traded blows which then devolved into a full blown fight, it didn't last long, Lark was still weak from recovery, and I had more combat experience than her. However, as I subdued her, I saw Discord hiding in the shadows watching with glee, I remembered his words, _"I'll make you a deal, and we will see what's in your hearts"_. I realised then that Lark and I were repeating history, and that _I_ was as much a threat to Lark as anything else, fear took hold of me, I didn't want to be the one responsible for destroying my sister when I had tried so hard to save her. So after grandmother's funeral, I packed a back, snuck down to the hanger, grabbed a skimmer and left.

* * *

 **(Flashback ends)**

"You then know most of what happened next, I ran into the Interceptors and was taken in by them, one thing I left out was Lightning Strike's attack on Cyclonia, it happened just a few weeks after I ran away. This was because without me, the nobles tried to seize power for themselves, luckily Lark had enough supporters to maintain her position and finally kick the nobles our altogether. But during that time period, Cyclonia's leadership was a mess, and Lightning saw an opportunity and took it, if it wasn't for the Dark Ace he would have succeeded, but thanks to me, the Dark Ace got his chance to grab power of his own and used the destruction of the old Storm Hawks to get it and proceeded to slaughter dozens of Skyknights, all thanks to me." As Starling finished she hung her head in defeat, but also felt like a great weight had been lifted off her chest, _there, it was all out, Piper knows everything, now what will she decided to do with me?_

No sound came from the next cell however, "Piper, you still there?" Starling called

Suddenly the door to Starling's cell opened, revealing a smug Piper leaning against the door frame twirling a set of lock picks, "You know something, these Talons are _terrible_ at searching prisoners," she said

Starling smiled back, then looked down, "Are you going to leave me here, where I belong, to rot like I deserve?"

Piper snorted, "What gave you that impression?"

Starling looked up confused, "I thought you were angry with me?"

Piper shook her head, "Disappointed, not angry, and besides, now I know the truth, so you want to know the conclusion I've come to?"

Starling nodded, thought she felt butterflies erupt in her stomach, "I've decided that you've had an incredibly rough life, and you've never given yourself a break, always believing that you have something to make up for," Piper began, then got a broad smile on her face, "So why don't we stop beating round the bush and go deal with the _real_ problem, getting your sister and you back on speaking terms, after all, it's been _six_ years, no family should be apart for that long." Piper said this as she unlocked Starling's cuffs and helped pull her friend to her feet, Starling could feel the tears of joy brimming in her eyes, Piper was still her friend, still willing to help her, despite _everything_

 _Maybe there is some hope after all_

* * *

 **Whew, boy was that a long one, to those that made it to the end I salute you, I was seriously considering breaking this chapter into two and I may still do that if people feel it is too long, so please let me know**

 **As always, if you liked this story please leave a review, constructive criticism is always welcome, and also, I'm noticing the number of views this is getting, I've got my fingers crossed for at least 6-700 views by the end, maybe more**

 **Anyway, until next time guys, stay tuned ; )**


	9. Chp9: Beloved Sister

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **WARNING!: This chapter contains a scene of violence, graphic content has been kept to a minimum to avoid an M rating but I still advise viewer discretion, if you decide to read on that is your own decision, with that said**

 **Hello all and welcome to the penultimate chapter of choices, that's right we're on the second to last chapter here meaning the next one is the finale, first of all I'd like to thank everyone who's read this story and even more so to those who have reviewed, I'm really glad you like my story and I hope this chapter and the finale get as much love as the rest, if not more. With regards to the chapter itself, we do have a basic summary of what was revealed in chapter 8 as well as a redemption (one guess who for) so without further ado**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Dear Readers all, welcome back, to Choices**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Beloved Sister**

 _ **Cyclonis's Chambers**_

Lark glared at her crystal combiner as it inserted the crystals she ordered it to into the main chamber, using a small flash of lightning to break each crystal down and leave its energy trapped in the main chamber of the machine. Usually when she worked on her crystals, was when Lark was at her most serene, she enjoyed the art of creation and destruction happening right before her eyes, " _Its' a natural cycle,"_ her grandmother had once said, _"What came before must move on before something new can replace it, and the universe is not wasteful, what came before will usually provide the foundation for what comes next, it is a fundamental law of the universe and cannot be broken by anything."_ Tears brimmed in Lark's eyes as she thought of her grandmother, lately she'd been thinking about her more, ever since that oaf Snipe had destroyed the Holo-Crystal showing Lark and her grandmother and she had been forced to steal a Nil Crystal from the Storm Hawks to repair it. Now thoughts of her family assaulted her, father, grandmother... Annie. _NO, she is a traitor, she abandoned us, joined our enemy! She is no_ _ **longer**_ _our sister, REMEMBER!_

Lark shook her head as the voice berated her, but she couldn't shake away the image of Annie's face as she had knelt in this _very_ room just over an hour ago when she had said that she _wouldn't_ fight. _She looked so..._ _ **broken**_ _, like everything she'd ever cared about had been taken away from her_ , Lark thought, only to get a stab of pain in her forehead, _so what! It's HER_ fault! _SHE was the one who ran away, she brought it on_ _ **herself**_ _!_ Lark growled in frustration and gripped her head in pain, however, by taking her hands away from what she was doing she missed the next crystal being inserted into the combiner, allowing the raw crystal to connect with the swirling energy trapped in the main chamber. Lark was _flung_ backwards as the explosion tore open the front of the combiner, luckily she was wearing her shield crystal so she didn't suffer anything worse than minor bruising, the blow to her pride however was much more severe, _I can't work in this state, I need to go clear my head_ , with that, Lark trudged to her room after dousing the flames coming from the combiner.

* * *

 _ **Cyclonia's Dungeons**_

Piper and Starling moved carefully past the rows of cells, they had next to _no_ cover, so if a group of Talons came around the corner, they'd be spotted for sure, however, after going some ways and not coming across a _single_ Talon, they began to get nervous, surely they wouldn't leave the prison _unguarded_. They got their answer once they reached the exit, they'd missed it on their way in purely because it had been raised before they'd reached it, and lowered after they'd moved out of sight of it. _It_ was a large metal door, easily a foot thick and operated by gears that raised it up or down, there was no way through

"Well," Piper said rather despondently, "That explains the lack of guards."

Starling examined the door, "This must be new, I never came down here during my infiltration of Cyclonia, there wasn't a need, but I saw the entrance to this place once as a child and I know for a _fact_ that this was not here, it must have been installed after I ran away."

Piper groaned, "I don't care if it's _new_ or not, all I care about is getting through it or finding another way out," she replied exasperatedly

"I'm pretty sure this is the only way, it's also _very_ clever, it's been reinforced to withstand even the toughest of blows, I doubt even a Wallop could punch through this, at least not on the first try, and any further blows would alert the guards." As Starling spoke she looked up and down the door, searching for some form of weakness and finding none, "By putting this here, they don't need guards to patrol the prison, just a detachment to guard the door, it also makes it difficult for anyone breaking _in_ as well as out, Lark you clever girl," Starling continued a smile on her face

Piper looked at Starling aghast, "Starling, you do realise your _clever_ sister has us _trapped_ in here!"

"I know, but it's still impressive and encouraging, it shows she hasn't lost any of her edge, there's still some of the sister I once knew inside her, we just have to get to her," Starling explained

Piper ran a hand through her hair, "And how do you suggest we _do_ that when we're _trapped_ in here!?" she exclaimed

"You could always ask for help," came a familiar (and welcome) voice on the other side of the door

Piper and Starling both stared incredulously as a slot high in the door opened and Aerrow – broad smile on his face – looked down at them, "How in the WASTELANDS!?" Piper shouted

"Piper, keep it down, you want to wake up the whole tower?" Aerrow hissed; to which Piper immediately shut her mouth

"I was wondering when you guys would get here, the Storm Hawks _never_ give up easy do they." Starling remarked as she folded her arms as she smiled up at Aerrow

"You honestly knew we were coming?" Aerrow asked

Starling paused here, "Well no, I believed either _you_ would report to the council, or they would ask you for one, and in the ensuing conversation, they'd tell you my secret," Starling replied

"Oh like the one where you're a Cyclonian Princess and Lark is your younger sister, you ran away six years ago and joined the Interceptors and are now trying to win back your throne?" came Finn's voice from somewhere behind Aerrow who also gave a wry smile

Starling sighed, "So they _did_ tell you," she said, then blinked in surprise, "And you still came for _us_... or just Piper?"

Aerrow rolled his eyes, "Of course we came for _both_ of you Starling,"

"Damm straight," Finn called, "Doesn't matter what your last name is, your still Starling to us." Aerrow nodded in agreement

 _What did I do to deserve friends like these?_ Starling thought as she felt tears of joy brim in her eyes, she quickly blinked them away and then smiled up at Aerrow, "Thanks guys, you don't know how much this means to me, and you got _most_ of my story right."

Aerrow raised an eyebrow at this, "What did we get wrong?"

"I'm _not_ trying to reclaim my throne, I'm just trying to get my sister back, I made some mistakes, _bad_ ones, and they cost me – _and_ Atmos – a lot. Now, all I want is to try and patch things up with my sister, I had a plan to do that, get her off the Terra, sit her down and just talk, get it all out," Starling explained

Piper frowned here, "Wait, couldn't you have just done that when we were with her, I mean she did ask you for that _very_ same thing?" she asked

Starling nodded, "Yes I could have, but I doubt it would have had much effect," she replied

"Why not?" came Junko's voice

Starling waved her arms around "It's this place, while she's here, she's _two_ people, she's my sister Lark, but she's also..." Starling trailed off

"Master Cyclonis," Stork finished

Starling nodded, "That second side is the one that's responsible for the way she is, after I ran she was _consumed_ by it, it was all she had left. Our mother was gone, our father was gone, our grandmother was gone, and I abandoned her, she had nothing left but her rage and pain, and she took it out on the rest of Atmos. I should have seen that sooner, but my own mind was consumed by fear at the time I ran away, not for myself, but for her, I was afraid that my new position as Queen would cause me to hurt my little sister after I'd tried so hard to save her."

"Whoa hold up, save her from what?" Aerrow asked

Piper took up the thread here as she could see that going through the memories again was hurting her friend, "Their grandmother began training them after their dad was killed during the war, they turned it into a game to see who could impress their grandmother the most, harmless at first, but they began pushing themselves harder and harder, eventually, this lead to Lark creating these crystals that allowed her to go with less and less sleep."

A collective gasp came from the guys, and Aerrow looked shocked, "She kept it a secret from me and grandmother, we didn't find out until the stress she had put her body under finally broke her, she was found comatose in her room by Snipe and Ravess and the doctors later told us that all of her organs were in the process of shutting down. She had to have intensive 24 hour care just to keep her heart beating and her lungs pumping, even so, she didn't improve, only deteriorate," Starling continued, nodding in thanks to Piper as she did

"So how did she survive?" Aerrow asked

Starling sighed, "Me, while grandmother descended into despair, I began researching, looking for _anything_ that might help, and I found what I was looking for, a lab belonging to a man named Discord Cyclonis, my grandmother's brother. He'd been imprisoned in the lab for decades, and then I come along and foolishly made a deal with him, an unknown price, in exchange for changing both mine and Lark's fates."

Silence descended for several moments, and then Finn broke it "Damm, that's... I don't even know _what_ that is!" he exclaimed, mutters of agreement came from the others

Starling just nodded, "I later learned about Discord's imprisonment, but not before grandmother passed away, I discovered that he and grandmother had come to blows regarding the succession, grandmother won, but Discord declared that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, that one day, grandmother's own descendants would repeat their conflict and tear her family apart. Decades later, Lark and I are born."

More silence, so Starling continues, "When Lark and I came into confrontation I realised what was happening, I was so _terrified_ that I would end up destroying my own sister after trying so hard to save her, that what I'd seen in Discord's lab would come true despite my best efforts. In my fear, I acted rashly, and ran, the rest, you know."

The Storm Hawks were silent for a time; finally, Aerrow cleared his throat, "Thank you for telling us Starling, we know that can't have been easy for you."

Starling just nodded and smiled in thanks as Aerrow turned to look behind him, "Stork you done yet?"

"Almost," came the strained reply, "There!"

With a loud clang and cranking of gears the large door slid upwards opening the prison and reuniting the Storm Hawks with Piper and Starling. Piper rushed to Aerrow who was standing with Radar on his shoulder and hugged him, "Thanks for coming to get us Aerrow," she said

Aerrow just smiled "Your welcome Pipes."

Starling walked out of the prison as well, then looked at the Storm Hawks curiously, "You know, I'm surprised the Council even let you come here, I was sure they'd order you back to Terra Atmosia," she said

"Oh no, they did," Finn replied nonchalantly

Now Starling looked shocked, "And you disobeyed them!?"

Finn chuckled, "Did more than that, Aerrow here hung up on them then had Junko throw the radio out the window, I then shot it for good measure," he replied smirk plastered across his face

Starling just stared open mouthed at each and every one of the Storm Hawks; _they risked their lives, their very_ _ **careers**_ _, to save_ _ **me**_? Starling gave voice to her thoughts this time "What did I do to deserve friends like you guys?"

Each of the Storm Hawks turned to her now, smiles on their faces, "Nothing what so ever, that's just what friends – what _family_ – do for each other," Piper replied

This time, Starling could not stop the tears of happiness as they ran down her cheeks, "Thanks guys."

* * *

 _ **Somewhere in Tower Cyclonia**_

Ace and Repton marched through the halls, they had ordered the Raptors to remain on standby near the hanger with their skimmers, Ace didn't feel the need for additional muscle, he and Repton should be more than enough to handle any unforeseen circumstances. They were currently making their way towards the dungeons to collect their ace in the hole, Anarchis Cyclonis the Second. As they walked a muffled yelling came from a side door they were passing by, they opened it to find two Talons tied up and gagged inside the room. Ace felt his blood run cold, reports had already come in concerning the _accident_ in the main hanger, now Ace knew it was no mere _accident_ but an act of sabotage, _the Storm Hawks are here_. Without a backwards glance at the helpless Talons, Ace and Repton took to their heels, racing towards the now very _empty_ dungeons.

* * *

 _ **Close to Cyclonis's Chambers**_

Aerrow peered out of the door down the hall as the Talon patrol they'd avoided rounded the corner and walked calmly on their way, just around the corner, Aerrow could make out the doors leading to Cyclonis's chambers. He turned to Radar, "Got the time?" he asked, to which Radar gave an affirmative nod and thumbs up, "good, keep an eye on things and time their return," Aerrow continued, Radar saluted and took Aerrow's place at the door, meanwhile Aerrow joined the others.

"Ok, so what's the game plan?" he asked

Starling took a breath, _this was it, two years of planning about to pay off, Atmos I hope this works_ , "We need to get Lark _off_ the Terra and away from Cyclonia, take her somewhere I can talk to her as her sister, rather than Cyclonian Queen and Skyknight," Starling stated

Aerrow sucked in a breath, "Getting her off the Terra is going to be a tall order, for starters it means going to get the _Condor_ and bringing it to a better landing zone so we can escape, then there's how the other Cyclonians will react, once they learn we're kidnapping her they'll fight tooth and nail to get her back."

Starling nodded, "I know, which is why we're going to need a distraction," she replied, "I'm sure you guys can handle that part."

Aerrow and the others considered it, they were about to accept it, when Piper spoke up, "I don't think that will work."

Everyone turned to look at Piper, "Why not?" Starling asked exasperatedly

Piper rolled her eyes, "Starling we couldn't beat her when we were 5 vs. 1, so how are we supposed to beat her and kidnap her with less, I know, we've trained and gotten better, but she's still _way_ out of our league, it would be far easier and simpler to talk to her here."

The others all gave murmurs of agreement as Starling looked at them all incredulously, she then looked to Piper, Starling found she couldn't fault Piper's logic, there was no reason to think Lark would come quietly, she would resist, which meant they had to beat her first. "Ok then, we all take her together, then the guys provide a distraction while the two of us get her to the _Condor_ ," Starling countered

Piper gave a heavy sigh, "Starling, just listen to yourself, your doing it again."

Now Starling looked at Piper confused (as did the others) "Doing what again?"

"As great as you are Starling, you're a procrastinator when it comes to _two_ things, one, telling your friends who you _really_ are, and two, _talking_ to your sister," Piper explained

 _Procrastinator?_ Starling thought back over this whole affair, the entire last two years. It had taken several months of being undercover before she'd worked up the courage to talk to Lark about their past, and even then she'd done it in a way that had made her seem like an interested third party at the time. Then there was a whole year in which she had kept her true identity hidden from her friends the Storm Hawks, and how every time she'd worked up to telling them, she'd always found some excuse to avoid the subject. It was only when it became obvious that her secret would likely get revealed whether she liked it or not that she had finally taken action towards that end. Slightly shocked, Starling realised that Piper was right, she had been putting this off, trying to find excuse after excuse, it would have been so easy to just return and beg her sister's forgiveness while explaining herself.

Starling sighed, "Ok Piper, what do _you_ suggest we do?"

Piper sat in thought for a moment, "We're going to need a distraction either way, no avoiding that, but I think it may be possible to get through to Lark right here, we just have to come up with the right approach."

"And that would be?" Stork asked

Piper continued to think, then something came to her, _"We're a lot alike, you and I,_ _ **more**_ _than you'd like to admit!"_ Piper smiled, _well, she wasn't wrong_. She looked up at the others, "There is _one_ place where I think Lark would be the more dominate persona over that of Master Cyclonis, if Starling and I can confront her there, we've got a much better chance of getting through to her, but it's going to take some preparation, so we need you guys making some noise out there, draw the Cyclonians _away_ from her chambers," Piper said

Starling raised an eyebrow, "Where exactly?"

Piper just smiled, "Aerrow, hand me the crystal bag, something tells me I'm going to need _all_ of them."

* * *

 _ **Cyclonia's Dungeons**_

Dark Ace ground his teeth in frustration as he stared at the open bulkhead door that normally kept the dungeons sealed, along with the unconscious Talons who were supposed to be guarding it

"What now?" Repton asked

Ace thought for several moments, Aerrow was once again proving to be a thorn in his side, but he would not let it deter him, not when they were so close, "Now, we find our puppet ruler, before the Storm Hawks can get her off the Terra," Ace replied as he marched off away from the dungeon

Repton raced to catch up, "And where exactly should we start looking?"

Ace just smiled, if his research had told him anything, Starling would ask the Storm Hawks for one more stop before leaving, _maybe this will work out after all_

* * *

 _ **Lark's Room**_

Lark sat back in her chair in front of her vanity mirror, a blackened crystal fell from her hands, it _had_ been a healing crystal, there were at least 3 others now lying drained on her desk, acrid crystal smoke rising from each of them. Yet still the voice berated her, _you don't have_ _ **time**_ _for this, our people are at_ _ **war**_ _, and as Queen we_ _ **must**_ _protect them by_ _ **defeating**_ _those who would_ _ **dare**_ _harm our people!_

Lark shook her head; the voice was cruel, grating and had a resonance that she was all too familiar with, the same voice she had used to intimidate her enemies or even her subordinates. _Why do you continue to deny this, deny_ _ **who**_ _you are now,_ _ **you**_ _are Queen now, would you just_ _ **abandon**_ _your people the way your sister abandoned_ _ **you**_ _!_

Tears ran down Lark's cheeks as she gripped her head in pain, this voice had plagued her since Annie had run away... but Lark felt that it may have been around even before that, and Annie's disappearance was just what brought it to the fore. _What does that matter,_ _ **we**_ _are Master Cyclonis, and_ _ **we**_ _have a duty to our people, NOW GET UP AND_ _ **DO SOMETHING!**_

"Help, please someone help me," Lark whispered, eyes squeezed shut

"You know it's just your shadow, it can't really hurt you, all that's happening is your hurting yourself with a mix of fear and anger in a mind that's already been scarred by your own mistakes, and mine," came a reply that emanated from Lark's mirror

Lark's eyes snapped open and she stared at the mirror, her reflection stared back, but it was changed, it was older, more mature, yet the eyes were kind and warm, and her reflection smiled in an almost motherly way

"W-who are you?" Lark stammered

The reflection chuckled "Someone very close to you, we haven't talked in a while and that was a fault on _my_ part, but now I'm here to fix things, and save you from your own demons, demons _I_ let in."

* * *

 _ **(A few minutes ago) Outside Cyclonis's Chambers**_

"Are you sure about this Piper, I mean, can she really _be_ redeemed?" Aerrow asked

Piper didn't meet his gaze immediately as she thought about the path they were taking, _if this works, it will change_ _ **everything**_ , to Aerrow she said "You remember what I told you about Terra Tundras, what Lark said to me."

Aerrow got a grim look on his face before nodding, "Yea I remember, it hurt you bad," he said

Piper just nodded in agreement, "Yea, but now I'm thinking that it hurt me for totally different reasons than I first thought," she replied

Now Aerrow looked at her confused, "what do you mean?"

"I thought it was because I felt betrayed, tricked, duped, played like a fool... but after hearing from Starling what Lark was like way back when, there's one thing about Terra Tundras that sticks more than anything," Piper explained

Aerrow raised an eyebrow at this, so Piper continued, "Lark said how alike the two of us were, when I first heard that, I didn't want to believe it, _refused_ to believe it. But as time has gone by, and after hearing Starling talk about her, I've seen just how true those words are, heck if we had been born in the others life, I doubt either of us would have done things differently than what the other did."

Aerrow looked shocked at that, then his confusion returned, "So how does that make you sure that we can change her, and how will that wipe away what she's done?" he asked

Piper shook her head, "I doubt it _will_ wipe away what she's done even if we succeed, however, it does tell me that beneath the Queen, beyond the person that is _Master Cyclonis_... is a girl just like me, whose scared, alone... angry, in need of a friend, a sister... and if Starling and I can show her she still has a sister, and maybe a friend, then the Queen will just become her role, her duty, not _who_ she is, and Lark will be free to make her own decisions again... like end the war."

Aerrow's face was unreadable for a few seconds as he processed that, for him, defeating Cyclonia had been all there was, finishing his father's work, now Piper was presenting a new option, and Aerrow couldn't bring himself to argue against it. He sighed and shook his head, "If you're sure, then I'm behind you Piper, 100%," he then looked towards the others who were waiting for his order, "We all are."

Piper smiled at that and hugged Aerrow, "Thanks, I promise we're going to make this work, somehow."

Aerrow hugged her back, "Just be careful," he replied, before turning to the other Storm Hawks and nodding, they returned the nod and began moving off to begin their part of the mission. Piper watched them go, feeling tense as she did, before ducking after Starling into Cyclonis's chambers, _for better or worse, we're about to change_ _ **everything**_.

* * *

 _ **Lark's Room**_

The plan was simple really, while the guys made some noise and kept the Cyclonians busy, Piper and Starling would talk to Lark... well, Starling would talk to her, while Piper would make sure that the persona ' _Master Cyclonis'_ did not lash out and attack them, so Starling could speak with her sister. This was achieved using a very difficult Crystal Mage spell, Piper was basically using a variety of crystals to manipulate what Lark was seeing in her vanity mirror, instead of the normal reflection, Piper had removed her own reflection and Lark's, leaving just Starling's. That wasn't quite true, Lark's reflection _hadn't_ been removed, just adjusted and superimposed over Starling's own reflection, making her look like an older version of her younger sister. In this way all Lark would see was an older version of herself, and would believe that she was basically talking with a hallucination, considering her state of mind already this carried its risks, timing would have to be _perfect_ and the words Starling said would have to be picked _carefully_. Starling was confident however, and had been eager to try the plan after Piper suggested it, and Piper trusted her, she may have kept her identity as a Cyclonian princess hidden from her and the rest of the Storm Hawks, but that wasn't _who_ she was, she was Starling, her friend and devoted Skyknight, and one of the key directives of the Skyknights was to promote and secure peace throughout the Atmos in whatever way they deemed appropriate.

"W-what do you mean 'demons'?" Lark asked nervously

Starling sighed, "You're scared, you've been alone for six years, lost everyone close to you, that made you angry, that anger merged with the responsibilities you assumed after becoming Queen, and you had only _one_ outlet," she explained

" _The Skyknights are enemies of Cyclonia, loyal lapdogs of the corrupt_ _ **Free Atmos**_ _, why shouldn't we do everything we can to_ _ **destroy**_ _them!"_ came the distorted resonant voice of _Master Cyclonis_ , hearing it, Piper's heart began beating rapidly in fear, but Starling remained unfazed, and Lark did not turn around, so Piper did not break her concentration and continued to maintain the illusion as sweat began to run down her brow

"Because it's wrong, and you know it, you're hurting innocent people, that's not the kind of person you are, years ago you would have looked at suffering and misery and done _everything_ you could to stop or prevent it," Starling replied

" _Weakness, naiveté, there will always be those who suffer, it's impossible to stop it so_ _ **why**_ _bother!?"_ Lark gripped her head as the voice spoke, then her own voice filled the room, "Because it made me happy to see the gratitude, how people looked to me with thanks," she said

Starling nodded, "You were once a kind and caring soul, and I'm ashamed to say that I destroyed that, my actions flung you into a spiral of despair and I'm sorry for that."

" _Nonsense, it was our treacherous sister who abandoned us, who treated us like dirt, a political chess piece to be sacrificed when it suited her!"_ Lark curled into herself and began sobbing as the words echoed around the room

Starling felt her own tears run down her cheeks, but she pressed on, _it's working, we're having an effect, the two sides are pulling apart_ , "Do you _really_ believe that your sister would view you that way, treat you that way?"

" _OF COURSE WE DO, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT SHE DID!"_ roared _Master Cyclonis_

"Did you ever stop to consider her reasons for what she did after grandmother died?" Starling asked

Lark now blinked and looked back up at the reflection in the mirror, _had_ _she?_ She thought back, looking through the memories, _no, not once did she ever consider what reasons Starling had for choosing to send her away, and for then running away herself_.

" _What does that matter? She did it, end of story, she hurt us,_ _ **betrayed**_ _us!"_

Starling sighed, "Yes I did, and for that, I' am truly sorry, I was only doing it to protect you from myself, I was afraid the path we were walking would end up with the two of us fighting until one of us stood the victor, and in the state that you were in at the time, that victor would have been me," Starling said, to which Lark gasped but did not take her eyes off the reflection

"So I left, a foolish, _stupid_ move, but I did it anyway, and it hurt you. Then I joined the Skyknights because I wanted to try and make up for my mistakes by doing what _you_ always tried to do when we were little, _help_ people. I didn't join to fight _against_ you or our people – and yes, it hurt every time I was forced to do just that – I did it to help others, to fix my mistakes."

Piper was feeling the strain of maintaining such a powerful spell for so long, _just a little longer_

"But I'm done running, done denying what I did, how much I hurt you, the answer was staring me in the face the whole time but I was too afraid to see it," Starling glanced to where Piper was hiding, struggling to maintain the illusion, "It took a friend to slap some sense into me and see what I had been missing all along."

 _The signal!_ Piper thought, and gratefully released the illusion, as she did, Starling looked back towards Lark, seeing the look of shock come over her face as what was truly in front of her returned, "That you're my little sister and I need to tell you the truth, rather than be afraid of it," Starling finished

Lark turned in her chair and stared at Starling, her eyes brimming with tears, "I'm _so_ sorry Lark, you mean the world to me, you always have, from the day you were born, you're my sister and I should _never_ have left you, can you please forgive me?" Starling asked her own eyes filling with tears

No one moved or spoke for several moments, and for a second Piper thought it hadn't worked, then Lark leapt from her chair and embraced Starling, sobbing into her shoulder, "A-apology a-accepted," Lark sobbed, as Starling embraced her back.

* * *

 _ **(Meanwhile) Tower Cyclonia Central Command**_

Ravess and Snipe were busy getting the last few items of business sorted for the day, they were pretty much done when a voice over the intercom stopped everyone in their tracks, "Hello, testing, testing, is this thing on... oh good... HELLOOOOOO TERRA CYCLONIA! This is Aerrow of the Storm Hawks speaking, we got a little bored and decided to challenge you guys to a round of hide and seek. Basically we're gonna go around destroying your stuff and you guys have to try and find us to stop us. Better hurry though, we've already trashed three of your cruisers and who knows what other mischief we could get up to."

Suddenly there was a loud crash and the sound of things breaking (and something twanging) before Aerrow spoke again, "Whoops, too late, Junko what exactly was that?" Aerrow asked

"I dunno, but there's lots of wood and bits of string," came Junko's reply

Ravess's eye twitched as she realised the Storm Hawks had just trashed her music room, she jabbed her finger onto the intercom switch and began screaming into the mike "FIND THEM, HUNT THEM DOWN, I WANT THEM ALIVE!"

Aerrow took his hand away from the ear closest to the speaker before chuckling and hanging up on the intercom, "Well that got their attention."

Ravess stormed out of central command, her brother hot on her heels, "Shouldn't we inform Master Cyclonis?" Snipe asked

Ravess looked at him incredulously, "Do you _have_ a death wish brother, if Master Cyclonis discovers that Storm Hawks are on the Terra and we let them run rampant it will be our necks, we capture them first and _then_ we present them to Master Cyclonis!"

* * *

 _ **Lark's Room**_

Piper smiled as the two sisters hugged, _you did good Pipes, reuniting a family, it's a good thing_ , now they just needed to get out of here, and hope Lark's new state of mind would be more open to peace. Piper was about to move over to them – she hated breaking them out of their moment, but they were still on a clock – when all of a sudden a slow clapping filled the room, Piper turned towards its source, as did Lark and Starling.

"Very well done, Storm Hawk, you achieved something that I thought impossible, and just made my life a lot easier," said the Dark Ace as he stepped from the shadows, Piper hadn't even seen him enter

Lark took a step forward, surprise showing on her face "Ace what are you doing here, these are my private quarters?" she questioned

Ace chuckled "My apologies, but there is someone here with whom I wished to speak," as he spoke his gaze drifted to Starling and he bowed low

"Welcome home, your majesty, it is an honour to officially meet you," Ace said, his voice layered with charm

Starling blinked, surprised, then her eyes narrowed, "What do you want Ace?" she asked

Ace straightened "Straight to business, I like that, speaks _worlds_ about you, I'm here to return things to the way they _should_ be," he explained

Starling raised an eyebrow "And what would that be?"

"Why, helping you take your rightful place on the throne and finally securing victory for Cyclonia," Ace replied, a broad smile on his face

Piper and Lark looked at Ace incredulously, _he's betraying Lark, just like he betrayed Lightning Strike_ , Piper looked to Starling and saw that her face was impassive, but her eyes told her that Starling was thinking hard about something. Lark meanwhile took Ace's words about as well as Piper thought she would, "Ace what are you saying, _I'm_ Queen of Cyclonia!" she exclaimed

"Correction, you are the _spare_ that Cyclonia was forced to raise up after you drove your sister away with your selfish actions over your betrothal, Starling – or should I say Anarchis Cyclonis the Second – is the rightful heir to the throne, she was never disinherited which means the throne rightfully belongs to her," Ace replied calmly

" _Spare_?" Lark breathed aghast

Ace ignored her and moved past her to Starling, "I' am happy to support your claim my Queen and I have many allies both on Terra Cyclonia and elsewhere in the Empire who would do the same, in exchange for your favour of course," Ace continued, "And then together your Highness, we will make this Empire great once again, forge it into a powerhouse like the one under your father, and we will use that power to _finally_ defeat Atmosia and the Skyknights and claim victory... what say you?"

Ace stood there smiling in front of all three of them while Lark stared incredulously at Ace, not quite able to believe that this was happening, Piper meanwhile was thinking at a million miles an hour, _this is a dangerous situation, Ace is far too confident, what does he have up his sleeve?_

Starling just stood in the middle of the room, staring at the floor, she was silent for so long that Lark finally spoke up, "Annie, you _can't_ be considering this?" even as Lark said the words however a thought went through her mind, _and why shouldn't she, she_ _ **is**_ _the eldest, the_ _ **rightful**_ _heir_

Finally Starling spoke, "It's a tempting offer Ace... to a moron who's as ambitious as you," Starling said coldly as she glared at him

Ace seemed taken aback, real shock on his face, "But I thought..." Ace began only for Starling to interrupt him

"You thought wrong, I haven't wanted the throne for the last six years," she moved over to Lark at this point and put a hand on her shoulder, "Besides, Cyclonia already _has_ a Queen, I have no intention of usurping her."

Lark looked to her sister gratefully and Starling smiled back, but Piper was still uneasy, Ace was still _too_ relaxed

Said man now sighed, "I didn't want it to have to come to this, but you leave me no choice, if you won't take your rightful place willingly then we'll just have to make an _opening_."

Piper's eyes widened as comprehension dawned instantly, not that it mattered, Repton suddenly _burst_ from the shadows behind her blade drawn, he knocked Piper aside causing her to fall to the floor stunned, and then rushed Lark, with the intent to kill. Lark spotted Repton out the corner of her eye and turned to respond, but she wasn't going to make it, then time seemed to slow for what happened next, Starling _pushed_ Lark away and stepped into Repton's path. Repton unable to kill his momentum carried forward into Starling, his blade sinking into her chest, Starling gave an _explosive_ gasp as the air was knocked from her body and she slumped onto Repton who just stared at her incredulously.

"Guess your patience finally paid off eh Raptor, you finally got the last Interceptor," Starling wheezed, "I'll see you in _hell_."

Repton retreated from Starling like he'd been stung, as he did his blade was withdrawn, and Starling collapsed to the ground, blood pooling on the floor beneath her.

Silence reigned for several minutes, then Lark _screamed_ in agony.

* * *

 **Hmm, what's that... oh you were expecting a _happy_ ending (begins twirling fake mustache evilly) Mwuhahahaha, mwuhahahahahahahah, MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
**

 **don't forget to leave a review and as always constructive criticism is welcome, now if you'll excuse me, this 'Evil Dirty Bastard' is gonna run for it before people get their guns loaded, until next time ; )**


	10. Chp10: A Test of the Heart

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Storm Hawks, Characters, locations, equipment or anything associated with the show, this fanfic exists purely because I want it to**

 **(The music to "We wish you a merry Christmas" begins playing)**

 **I'm an Evil Dirty Bastard**

 **I'm an Evil Dirty Bastard**

 **I'm an Evil Dirty Bastard**

 **And I killed Starling!**

 **(Ducks for cover behind a bar as gunfire starts, once gunfire stops, jumps back up _onto_ bar dressed in Mask costume complete with Martini in hand)**

 **Did you miss me? (drinks from Martini which proceeds to drain from several holes in body) I guess not ; )**

 **Ok, ok all joking aside guys I'm not the kinda guy who writes unhappy endings, I just couldn't resist trolling all of you ; ) As for this chapter I'm afraid my lips are sealed on this one, I'm too happy with the way it turned out to even _remotely_ spoil what awaits you, however I can say this _is_ the last chapter, that's right welcome to the finale, it's fairly long so I would suggest grabbing a drink, maybe some popcorn, then sit back and realx**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Dear Readers all, Welcome to the finale of Choices**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: A Test of the Heart**

 _ **Tower Cyclonia**_

Everything was going according to plan, the Storm Hawks lead Snipe and Ravess along with a bunch of Talons on a merry chase through the halls of Tower Cyclonia, at each engagement point, Junko would open with a charge to break up their pursuers, neutralizing the most dangerous enemies with precise blows. Aerrow would then duck dodge and weave through the gaps, flowing like water completely untouchable, taking out the enemies Junko had missed, then they would fall back with Finn covering them while staying on the move, finally they would lead them to where Stork had setup a trap to slow the Cyclonians down before finding a new spot somewhere else to start the whole thing _all_ over again. Things were going well, though the Storm Hawks could see they were pissing off the Cyclonian twins more and more as time went by, then as they were about to commit to a fourth engagement, the entire tower _shook_ as lightning began going off in the air around the Terra, almost like the wrath of heaven had been unleashed, bringing an immediate halt to the fighting

"What in the _Wastelands_ is going on!?" Finn shouted

As the tremors calmed down a little, Ravess glanced out a nearby window, what she saw turned her blood to ice, the red clouds of Cyclonia while not the most calm of skies, usually still move languidly around the Terra. Now however they were roiling like a storm wracked sea, and rushing towards the Terra, lightning firing in their bellies causing the very air to be charged with electricity. Despite the after tremors still occurring she rushed over to a nearby intercom and put it to Terra wide

"BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES; PUT ALL FUEL, CRYSTALS, ANYTHING THAT COULD BE DETONATED INTO SEALED STORAGE, THEN HAVE ALL CIVILIANS REPORT TO THEIR SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY!"

The order was met with instant obedience along with an alarm that began _blaring_ across the Terra, meanwhile Ravess rushed off towards Cyclonis's chambers, Snipe and the Talons hot on her heels. Aerrow and the others looked at one another, a single thought on their mind, _Piper and Starling_ , they rushed after the Twins, Aerrow quickly caught up with Ravess

"What's going on?" he asked, raising his voice to be heard over the noise of the storm and the alarm

Ravess glared at him, about to utter some sort of rage filled retort, until she saw that Aerrow was genuinely confused – and scared – so she just looked ahead as they continued running, "I don't know exactly, it's just something that the last Master Cyclonis warned me about," she said

Aerrow raised an eyebrow as Ravess continued, "The ceremony of coronation has special rituals that give _each_ Master a unique connection to the Terra and the natural forces that surround it, it's part of the reason for the power of every Master crowned, their own abilities and skills are enhanced by the Terra's inherent power."

Aerrow looked at Ravess stunned, then a thought came to him, "Isn't that dangerous?"

Ravess nodded, "Yes it does carry its risks, but so long as the Master maintains a reasonably healthy state of mind and doesn't suffer any kind of severe emotional trauma things stay relatively normal, our current Master Cyclonis has had what you'd call an emotional storm cloud over her head since her sister disappeared six years ago, since then the Terra has been swathed in storm clouds, though they've stayed pretty mild, with only minor instances of instability, but now..." Ravess trailed off

"Something's happened, something to tip her over the edge," Aerrow breathed, real fear creeping into his voice

Ravess did not respond outside of a grim nod as they continued to race towards Master Cyclonis's Chambers

* * *

 _ **Lark's Room**_

Lark's scream was followed by the _crash_ and _boom_ of lightning and thunder going off all around the tower as well as the sound of wind now whipped up into a gale of _fury_ , Piper watched as the windows _shattered_ under the force they were put and covered her face as glass rained down from above them. Then everything began to calm, not to the state it had been, but enough that they weren't bracing themselves, then Lark's _desperate_ voice filled the room

"Annie, p-please get up, A-Annie please a-answer me," Lark sobbed as she gripped Starling's arm and began shaking her, Starling was unresponsive however and Piper felt a lead weight drop into her stomach as Lark's head dropped to her chest and her sobs filled the room

Ace grabbed Repton and shook him hard, "You _moron_ , you had one job, _ONE_ job, we needed Anarchis _alive_!" he snarled

"It wasn't my fault she practically jumped onto my blade!" Repton retorted even as Starling's blood dripped from his sword to the floor

Piper was about to do something to shut the two of them up, when a cold, dark, resonant, _distorted_ voice filled the room, as it did, the wind began to pick up again, and with cold understanding, Piper realised just how deep in the _crapper_ they now were

" _ **You killed her, you betrayed me, your nothing put two pieces of scum, trash that doesn't deserve to live!"**_ as she spoke, Lark's head rose, her eyes were no longer dark violet, but pure black, like a sky shark's eyes, the very air seemed to _crackle_ around her and the gale outside grew into its furious state once more

Ace and Repton looked at her with pure _terror_ on their faces, "M-Master Cyclonis, please allow me to explain..." but Ace was interrupted by a lightning bolt fired at his head, that he only just managed to avoid

In response, he pushed Repton forward, "He's the one you want, he killed her not me!" Ace shouted

Repton whirled towards Ace, fear forgotten and a look of pure fury on his face, "What, this was _YOUR_ idea; you told me if Anarchis didn't join us willingly to kill her brat of a sister!"

" _ **ENOUGH!"**_ at Lark's booming shout, the whole tower shook for the second time

" _ **The two of you have committed treason of the HIGHEST degree, and for that, YOU. MUST. DIE!"**_ Lark stuck her hand out towards her staff which _flew_ towards her, then leveled it at Repton and Ace

Piper knew she had to do something, the storm outside was in some way connected to Lark, Piper didn't know _how_ , but from how it had been responding to her emotions it could _not_ be a coincidence. If Piper let this reach the inevitable conclusion, then things would only get worse, in one fell swoop, Repton and Ace had _destroyed_ what Piper and Starling had achieved. Piper could _not_ in good conscience let Starling's sacrifice be in vain, so despite every fibre of her being telling her that what she was doing was _crazy_ and went completely against everything that rational sense said she should do, she ignored them, grabbed a leech crystal along with a crystal that could siphon energy safely, then leapt for Lark, using the leech crystal to draw away the electrical energy around her and then siphon it away safely so that as she wrapped her arms around Lark to restrain her, she would not get fried by the lightning crackling around her.

Lark reacted in shock to what Piper was doing, and even Repton and Ace were stunned so much that they remained rooted to the spot, _**"PIPER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"**_ Lark roared

Piper gritted her teeth as Lark struggled against her, luckily thanks to her crystal combo, Lark's powers were out of the equation, or this would have been over in five seconds flat, "Stopping you from becoming a murderer!" Piper exclaimed through gritted teeth

" _ **GET OFF!"**_ Lark shouted struggling harder to dislodge Piper

Suddenly the doors _burst_ open and Ravess, Snipe, Aerrow, the rest of the Storm Hawks and a squad of Talons arrived, and stared in shock at what was happening

Aerrow spotted Starling first, "No," he breathed a look of pure shock and despair on his face, the other Storm Hawks did not look much better

Ace reacted quickly to the new situation, "Ravess, thank Atmos your here, the Storm Hawks and Starling were trying to kidnap our Empress!" he shouted

Ravess glanced at him, the blood on Repton's blade, Starling's body, and then looked to where Lark and Piper were struggling, and found she didn't know what to do, a simple kidnapping would not be enough to create the storm outside, and if Ace's words were true, then wouldn't he and Repton be helping get Piper off their Empress. She received her answers quickly enough

" _ **LIAR, YOU KILLED MY SISTER, AND I'LL SEND YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL FOR IT, YOUR DEAD ACE,**_ _ **DEAD!**_ _ **"**_ Lark roared as she continued to struggle against Piper who was now holding on for dear life

"Ravess I can explain later, right now you need to get Ace and Repton out of this room and lock them up somewhere, QUICKLY!" Piper shouted

Ravess looked back to Starling's body, with the new information, memories returned to her – and Snipe – and recognition dawned on their faces, they then turned towards Ace and Repton, the Storm Hawks forming up alongside them, "You killed a member of the Cyclonis family, our _Royal_ family... you are traitors, and by the power vested in me as a General of Cyclonia, I hereby place the two of you under arrest, to answer for charges of _treason_!" Ravess exclaimed, tears streaming down her face as she did, while Snipe growled in anger charging up his crystal mace. Alongside them, Aerrow drew his dual blades, Junko slammed his knuckle busters together, and Finn loaded his crossbow, looks of pure _fury_ on their faces.

Ace knew a lost situation when he saw it, there was nothing left to do but try to escape, "So be it," he growled before drawing his blade and slamming the point into the floor before the others had a chance to react. The action caused the floor beneath Repton and Ace to disintegrate and the two of them fell through to the floor below, despite the shock of it, Repton still managed to land on his feet and was after Ace in a heartbeat after landing.

Ravess, Snipe and the Storm Hawks went up to the edge of the hole and looked through, "We can't let them escape!" Aerrow exclaimed about to jump through after them

"Hold it; Master Cyclonis needs to be taken care of!" Ravess barked

They looked back to see Lark and Piper still struggling "I got it, just _get_ them, don't let them get away with this!" Piper shouted

Ravess was torn; on the one hand her duty said she _shouldn't_ leave the Master of Cyclonia like this, let alone with a _Skyknight_ , on the other hand, they _couldn't_ let Ace and Repton get away. Piper saw Ravess's indecision, "Ravess I give you my word as a Skyknight that Lark will not be harmed, and I will do everything in my power to calm her down!"

That did it, Ravess's eyes hardened and she turned back to the hole, before turning to Aerrow, "Find them, flush them out, Snipe and I will start locking down the tower, drive them into a corner!" she ordered, Aerrow just nodded before jumping through the hole, Finn and Junko right behind him

"Radar, Stork stay with Piper!" Aerrow shouted back as they landed, while Ravess and Snipe made for the door

"Talons, I want four men guarding these chambers, let no one in unless they are under my orders, IS THAT CLEAR!" Ravess shouted

"SIR YES SIR!" the Talons replied

"Good, the rest of you with me or my brother, spread the word, Tower Cyclonia is to be locked down and the traitors Ace and Repton brought to justice!" Ravess declared

"Stork get to the Condor, if Ace and Repton make it off the Terra we need a ship in the air!" Piper called, Stork just nodded and ran out after the Cyclonians. After he'd gone Lark and Piper were alone with Radar

Lark continued to struggle, then spoke again, her voice still had some distortion, but it was nowhere near as cold or dark as before, _"Why are you_ _ **doing**_ _this Piper, your letting them avoid the death they deserve, they killed Annie, my sister,_ _ **your**_ _friend... you're just going to let them get away with that!?"_

As Lark spoke her struggles decreased if only slightly, then Piper responded, "Of course not, Aerrow and the others will catch them, lock them up, then they'll be tried and found guilty, they will _not_ get away with this."

" _I DON'T WANT A TRIAL FOR THEM, I WANT THEM_ _ **EXCEQUTED!**_ _"_ Lark screamed

"I know you're hurting right now Lark... I' am too, so is Aerrow, Finn, Junko, Stork, even Radar, we considered Starling a part of our squadron, and to us, our squadron is our family, you know that better than any Cyclonian... other than your sister," Piper replied her voice calm and clear despite the situation

Tears were streaming down Lark's cheeks as she looked down at Starling's body, Radar stood next to her, just outside the pool of blood, his ears drooped, a look of profound sadness on his face. Lark then squeezed her eyes shut as pain flared in her forehead, _"Why... why won't you let me kill them, it's what they deserve_ , they've taken the only other member of my family away from me, and just when I got her back as well... so why won't you let me take revenge?"

Piper did not respond immediately, but she did begin to relax, as Lark had begun to do, then Piper spoke, her voice filled with sadness, "Two reasons, the first is your my friend, the friend I made before Terra Tundras, and I don't want to see you become a murderer, and that ties into the second reason."

"Which is?" Lark asked through her sobs

Piper forced herself to look at Starling, "Your sister wouldn't want you to take revenge,"

Lark looked back over her shoulder at Piper incredulously, "How do you know what she would have wanted!?" she exclaimed "After all, _she_ took revenge on Repton for killing her squadron!"

Piper shook her head at that, "It wasn't a mission of revenge, it was a rescue mission, we were helping the Terradons escape while Starling played decoy and kept Repton busy, beating him in combat and reclaiming her squadron's shield was just a bonus for her, but that wasn't _why_ she did it."

Lark looked back towards her sister, tears blurring her vision as Piper continued, "She wouldn't want you to take revenge just for her, to drag yourself down to Ace and Repton's level, she could have easily killed Repton on Terra Bogaton for what he did, but she didn't."

"And now because of that, she's been killed by _him_ ," Lark sobbed

Piper sighed, "I know, but Starling wouldn't care about that, all she would have cared about, all she's _ever_ cared about, is keeping _you_ safe."

At Piper's words, the anger and rage was finally snuffed out, its last embers cooling under Piper's gentle, soothing voice and Lark collapsed to her knees in tears with Piper beside her, no longer restraining her, but comforting her, holding her tight. Radar joined them and curled up in Lark's lap, purring comfortingly as he did so. As they sat there, a team of medics came into the room and began to tend to Starling, Piper did not have high hopes though, Starling had not moved since she had fallen, it was likely all the medics could do was confirm what they already knew, Starling was gone.

* * *

 _ **Tower Cyclonia**_

Dark Ace and Repton rushed down the halls towards the hanger where they'd left the other Raptors, hopefully, despite everything, they'd obeyed Repton's orders and were still there. As they rounded another corner however, Repton tackled the Dark Ace and shoved him against a wall, "What was all _that_ about back in Cyclonis's Chambers, you _threw_ me under a _skybus_!?" Repton growled angrily

Ace grunted as he tried to get some leverage on Repton, "This is hardly the time or place; we _need_ to get out of here."

Repton snarled, "Correction, _I'm_ going to get out of here, and I'll leave _you_ as a distraction for our pursuers!"

"And do _you_ know your way around a Terra wide lock-down!?" Ace retorted

Repton paused here then growled angrily and released Ace, "Which way?" he asked

Ace dusted himself off, then Aerrow, Finn and Junko came hurtling round the corner behind them, "THERE!" Aerrow yelled, blades drawn

"This way!" Ace shouted and took off down another hallway, as they ran Ace's mind was running a million miles an hour recalling all the old and forgotten routes he had discovered during his time here. At the same time he was admiring Ravess, _clever using the Skyknights as hunting dogs to flush us out, while she, Snipe and the Talons busy themselves with locking down the Terra, that means we're on a tighter clock than I thought_.

The chase took them through the center of the tower gradually going down until they reached the level of the hanger where they'd left the other Raptors, despite the speed of the Storm Hawks, Ace and Repton were able to stay just ahead of them thanks to Ace's foreknowledge of their route. The Storm Hawks quickly switched tactics, rather than _catch_ their targets, they focused on keeping in the chase, just like during the morning runs back on Terra Mesa, _we_ _ **won't**_ _let you down Starling, we'll catch them, no matter what_ , Aerrow vowed silently, and from the looks in Junko and Finn's eyes, they were making the same vow.

Finally they reached the hanger, and to Repton and Ace's immense relief, the other Raptors were still there, they'd also managed to get some ground on their pursuers, however, Ravess had already ordered all nearby Talons to the Hanger, and the Storm Hawks were not far behind them.

"Ok let's get out of here quick before the Storm Hawks arrive," Ace said mounting his Skyride

Suddenly Repton's blade _sliced_ through the vital equipment necessary to unfurl the wings, making escape with it impossible, "Repton what are doing!?" Ace shouted only to be kicked off the skimmer before Repton mounted his own

"Paying you back for that stunt in Cyclonis's chambers, you'll be a _perfect_ distraction for our pursuers while _I_ escape," Repton replied, a smug smirk plastered on his face, "Thanks for showing me the way out," he finished before gunning his skimmer's engines and making for the hanger exit

As the Raptors left Ace in the dust, the Storm Hawks arrived, "Get after them, Ace is mine!" Aerrow shouted, Finn and Junko ran on by, with Finn firing off crossbow bolts taking out the two rear most Raptors, Junko ran up to them and knocked them out

Meanwhile, Ace stood and faced Aerrow, "So this is it eh, seems rather poetic that this be my final battle, to duel with the son of the man I murdered and betrayed," as Ace spoke he drew his sword from its place on his back and turned towards Aerrow, getting into a ready stance, "I won't go down easy Aerrow, this fight is the difference between life and death for me!" Ace shouted before charging Aerrow

The Raptors were pulling away from the Storm Hawks and were soon out of Finn's effective range, Talons appeared near the hanger entrance and tried to close it off, but the Raptors speed was too great, Repton could taste freedom. He glanced back to see Ace and Aerrow dueling, _good riddance_ , suddenly Leugey, Hoerk and Spitz all _slammed_ on their brakes and dropped behind him, "What are you doing!?" Repton shouted enraged

"Uhh, boss..." Hoerk called pointing ahead

Repton looked back towards where he was going, to see the hull of the _Condor_ blocking his way, he snarled with anger – both too close and going too fast to stop now – and yanked on the handlebars to get his ride between the edge of the hanger door and the hull of the _Condor_. He zoomed through, but as he did his Skyride _clipped_ the hull, Repton ignored it however as it only caused a minor jolt, once he was clear he unfurled the wings of his skimmer. He looked back at the _Condor_ seeing the Merb Stork at the controls and barked a harsh laugh, before _revving_ the engines, had Repton paid attention to the hit he'd taken, this would have been the _last_ action he took. The damage his ride received had been to the fuel compartment, now it was leaking, flowing in a stream behind the vehicle due to the speed he was already going through the air, as such _revving_ the engines had the following effect. It extended the length of the burner coming from the engines enabling it to ignite the leaking fuel; this then followed the trail back to the fuel compartment and proceeded to _detonate_ it, in _spectacular_ fashion. Luckily for Repton his thick scales protected him from the explosion, not so luckily his parachute was completely _incinerated_ by said explosion, Repton now found himself sailing through open air, with _nothing_ below him, except the clouds that beckoned him to the wastelands beneath, and it was a _long_ way down. The last anyone heard of Repton was his scream of _terror_ as he disappeared beneath the clouds

Back in the hanger Aerrow flowed around Ace's attacks fluidly, making sure to deliver strikes of his own whenever an opening was provided by Ace's over committing attacks, Ace snarled with anger swinging round, his blade slicing through the air, but Aerrow just ducked underneath, his movements flowing and coordinated. Finn and Junko returned now that the Raptors were in the Talon's custody but as they did, Aerrow held up a hand, "No this is my fight," he said simply, Finn and Junko stopped in their tracks and just nodded while moving to positions to jump in should Ace win, no matter who won the fight, Ace could _not_ get away

"You've improved since last time Aerrow," Ace panted swinging his sword in another wild but powerful strike, which Aerrow easily flowed around, "Who's been training you?" Ace asked

" _Starling_!" Aerrow growled, and the look on his face told Ace one thing, he _wasn't_ going to win, and with the other two Storm Hawks standing by, there was now no escape, Ace's words caused Aerrow to go on the offensive, but Ace had just as much trouble landing a blow as he did before. Aerrow's attacks however were precise and accurate, and after a flurry of blows were traded, Aerrow knocked Ace's sword from his hand and landed the traitor prone on the floor

Aerrow moved to stand over him, blade leveled at Ace, "Go on, _finish it_!" Ace snarled

Every fiber of Aerrow's being _screamed_ at him to do just that, the man before him had betrayed the Storm Hawks, had killed Aerrow's own father, had killed _countless_ other Skyknights, and now he was responsible for Starling's death as well. But despite all that, Aerrow knew what true justice demanded, and with a strained sigh, lowered his blade, before looking up at the nearby Talons. "He's all yours" Aerrow said stepping away, the Talons rushed in and restrained Ace before the man could react, though he did begin struggling, he looked to Aerrow as the Talons hauled him to his feet, Aerrow was picking up Ace's sword, " _This_ however, _rightfully_ belongs to me."

Ace gave a roar of fury and hate as the Talons dragged him away, Snipe and Ravess entered the Hanger through the same door Ace was dragged out of, "Take him to the dungeons, I want 3 men on his cell and another 12 on the main door!" Ravess ordered, to which the Talon's uttered affirmatives. The twins then made their way over to the Storm Hawks who were being watched by more Talons while the Raptors were also lead away to the dungeons, behind all this the _Condor_ slowly docked inside the hanger before Stork emerged, Ravess turned to him first, "What of Repton?"

"His skimmer took some damage as he escaped, when he revved his engines the whole thing exploded on him, watched him fall into the wastelands," Stork said simply

Ravess gritted her teeth, "Damm, if that bastard is dead he won't stand trial," she turned to a group of Talons, "Go down to the wastelands and see if you can find him, if he is dead, fine, if not, bring him back alive."

"Sir Yes sir!" the Talons responded before moving off to their skimmers

"What of the Storm Hawks, general?" asked another Talon

Ravess and Snipe looked at the Storm Hawks, and they likewise looked back at them, Ravess then sighed, "Let them be, they helped us deliver justice today to the killers of Anarchis Cyclonis the Second, that's worth a temporary ceasefire," she said to which the Storm Hawks all gave her grateful smiles

"Yes sir" the Talon, who asked responded, and he and the others went to help with the clean up

"Come on, we'd better go give our report to Master Cyclonis," Ravess said turning to go and gesturing for the Storm Hawks to follow, which they did

* * *

 _ **Lark's Room (1 hour later)**_

Lark was sat in a chair by her bed staring at the body of her sister, Anarchis Cyclonis the Second to the people of Cyclonia, Starling of the Interceptors to the Storm Hawks, and Annie to her. Standing just behind and slightly to the side of her was Piper, a comforting hand on Lark's shoulder, arrayed around the room were the other members of the Storm Hawks, Ravess, Snipe and a number of Cyclonian generals who had just been informed of the situation. Radar sat curled in Lark's lap allowing Lark to stroke his fur as a source of comfort to her

The silence reigned for quite a while, no one daring to break it, then finally, after what seemed like an age, Lark spoke, "I never even got a chance to..." but Lark trailed off, her tears returning, Snipe and several of the generals bowed their heads, while others removed hats and placed them against their chests

Ravess then stepped forward, tears in her own eyes, "Despite everything, we will have a proper ceremony for her, at the end of the day she is _still_ a Cyclonis and will be honoured as such," she stated, to which the generals gave murmurs of agreement. Lark merely turned towards Piper and began to sob again, her last family member _gone_ , "This is all my fault, if I'd been quicker I could have stopped Repton, she'd still be alive," she whispered so only Piper could hear

"By that logic, _I'm_ also to blame, you can't do that to yourself Lark, the people responsible for this are Ace and Repton, the former is now locked up and the latter is most likely dead, killed by his own stupidity," Piper replied

Lark gripped Piper's uniform tighter as the tears ran down her cheeks, one of the generals declared that he and his peers should start getting to work on any preparations that needed to be made, and that it was better if Lark have some time alone. The other generals agreed and began to file out, the general who had spoken was last and looked to the others, asking if they were coming, Ravess voiced her agreement and she, her brother and the Storm Hawks began to file out, until Lark spoke up, "No, the rest of you stay... please, I don't want to be alone." The others looked to the general, who just sighed, gave his condolences before bowing and left

Ravess, Snipe and the Storm Hawks formed up in a semicircle around the chair were Lark was sitting; Aerrow was about to speak – to say a few words – when a chuckling filled the room. Everyone turned towards the source of the sound, to see a man seated in a chair in the far corner of the room, the Storm Hawks at first mistook the man for Arygyn the Skeelur, but on closer inspection they could see distinct differences, firstly the colors that adorned his clothes were darker and more chaotic, his facial features also reflected this chaotic look, his white hair was frizzy and unkempt and was matched by a white goatee that dangled from under his chin. He also had one canine that seemed to protrude outwards slightly and a pair of mismatched eyes, one violet, the other emerald, and he was smiling at them with glee.

"Who are you, how did you get in here!?" Ravess demanded

The man however ignored her as he stood and stepped into the light, fully revealing his face, Piper couldn't hold in a gasp as she recognized the features that Starling had described to her, "Your Discord Cyclonis," she breathed and everyone looked to her in shock at her words, everyone _but_ Discord

"Correct my dear, I take it my grandniece told you about me," he replied assumedly, to which Piper only nodded

"Piper," Lark said, "You _know_ him?"

Piper just stared Discord down, "Yes Starling told me about him, he's your granduncle, your grandmother's brother, Starling made a deal with him to save your life when you were ill, it's what started all this," Piper explained

Snipe reacted to this, "You mean _you're_ the reason our princess is _dead_!" he yelled drawing his crystal mace, it disappeared almost as quickly as it was drawn, just _popping_ out of existence, Snipe stared at his empty hands, then looked at Discord, who bore a smug look. Snipe gave a roar of anger and charged Discord, he didn't make it three feet before he was picked up and flung against a wall by a hue of red energy that also surrounded Discord's hand

"They'll be none of that barbaric violence around my grandniece's deathbed, show some _respect_ , as for your accusation, it is correct that my deal with my grandniece led us into the reality we now inhabit, _however_ , the current circumstances are a direct result of my grandniece's _choices_ ," Discord stated, "She knew that quite well, in fact it was the one of only _two_ thoughts in her mind when she threw herself in front of the blade, the other being to protect her little sister." As he said the last part his gaze turned to Lark, and Piper did not like the look he gave her, like a predator that's sighted helpless prey

"Why are you here?" Piper demanded, "You got what you wanted, Starling paid your price, isn't that enough!"

Discord began laughing heartily at her words, "Oh my dear, you don't know how _wrong_ you are, you see, I' am still to receive my price because Starling _beat_ me," he explained, to looks of shock from everyone there

"What do you mean?" Lark asked

Discord zeroed in on her, "Simple my dear, when I made my deal with Starling I said and I quote, 'I'll make you a deal, and we shall see what's in your _heart's_ ,'" Discord said and seeing everyone's confusion he continued, "Within my deal was a test, a test of the heart, had my grandniece _failed_ it I would have demanded my price, _however_ , while it did take her sometime to figure it out, she did indeed _pass_ my test, and _beat_ me at my own game."

"Of course had she figured it out sooner she would not have needed to die, but my hands were tied with that, fate is a _cruel_ game master, had she reconciled with you sooner Lark, she would have likely lived, thanks to her choices however, we are lead to _this_ conclusion instead," Discord finished, the last part said as he gestured towards Starling's body

Lark also looked towards Starling, realizing for the first time just how _much_ her sister had risked to keep her safe, then something popped into the forefront of her mind, "Wait, you said _heart's_ not _heart_ , but how's that possible, a person only has _one_ heart?"

Discord smiled broadly, "Very good, I was wondering when you'd catch onto that," he replied chuckling, "You see this test was one of the bond between _you_ and your _sister_ , but such a test is worthless if only _one_ member of that bond is tested, so now that we have determined that Starling has passed, it is _your_ turn my dear," Discord explained, as he did he approached Lark and whipped his hand around in front of her face, when it stopped, he held a pure white stone in his previously _empty_ fingers. "This is an Infinity stone, as I'm sure your aware, it has the power to grant any _one_ wish that your heart desires, and it is all _yours_ " he stated as he took one of Lark's hands and placed the stone into it before stepping away

Lark stared at the stone, then up at Discord, " _Any_ wish, _anything_ I want?" she asked in disbelief

Discord nodded and smiled like the Cheshire Cat, "Indeed, you could use that stone to end the war, bring about an end to more than a century of conflict, it would indeed be a noble action for the betterment of your people... _or_ you could use it to save your sister, another noble action, repaying a life with a life," Discord mused, "Of course that's just a suggestion, the _choice_ my dear is up to you."

Everything was silent for several moments, then Aerrow broke it, "The answer is obvious, save Starling, bring her back!" he exclaimed

Ravess then jumped in, "Your Highness as much as it pains me, that crystal could end the war, in _our_ favor, think of the people your highness, if the war ended today think of how much suffering it would alleviate!"

An argument broke out between those who wanted to end the war and those who wanted Starling back (so basically, Snipe and Ravess on one side, the Storm Hawks on the other... well _most_ of the Storm Hawks). Piper watched the argument as well as Lark, sitting there torn between two _impossible_ decisions, then she looked at Discord, who just stood there smiling, Piper clenched her fists and drew in a breath, "QUIET!" she shouted, and quiet there was. Piper then turned to Lark, who was now staring at her, "Lark, I know this is a difficult decision to make, you might say an _impossible_ one," Piper began before glancing at Discord, who just kept smiling that smug grin, "So _don't_ make it, I know it hurts but whichever one you make it's going to be the _wrong_ one!"

Lark blinked in surprise "What are you talking about?" she asked confused

"Think about it, if you end the war whether it's in Cyclonia's favor or not, you're letting Starling, your _sister_ die, immediate fail! But if you use the stone to bring her back, then your condemning thousands of people to the suffering of war, also a fail! Even if you try and declare peace after bringing Starling back, there's no _guarantee_ that it will take, whichever choice you make, something bad _will_ happen to good people somewhere else, that's the difference between this choice and the one Starling made to save you from Repton," Piper explained

"Very true," Discord interrupted, "But then doing nothing and refusing to play my game brings about the _same_ outcome," he said smiling

Piper ground her teeth in frustration, _checkmate, in every sense of the word_ , this however still left Lark's choice, what should she do, _how_ could they _possibly_ beat Discord at his own game. Suddenly, Lark spoke, "I've made my decision."

Everyone looked to Lark, Discord looked like he was on the edge of his seat, anticipating what she would say next, "I'm sorry everyone, if you ever find out what I'm about to do, or if I tell you, I hope you can forgive me," Lark continued

"Oooh, your going _that_ route are you, how _interesting_ ," Discord said gleefully

Piper panicked, "No Lark don't..." but Piper's words died away as Lark gripped the Infinity stone tightly in her hands and made her wish, causing a white light to engulf the room

* * *

 ** _Tower Cyclonia, Lark's Room, just over six years ago_ **

Lark opened her eyes to see her room, now devoid of everyone except her, even Annie was gone from the bed, she looked over to the bedside table to where a calendar and clock resided, _yes, I got not only the right day, but the right time as well, I should be entering any minute..._

The doors to the room suddenly opened as a younger, nine year old version of Lark walked in looking exhausted, _wow, I really_ _was_ _a wreck_ , 15YO Lark thought. 9YO Lark suddenly stopped after spotting her older self in the corner of her eye and turned towards her slowly eyes widening as the nine year old realized who was standing in front of her, "What in the _wastelands_!?" she exclaimed

15YO Lark quickly used her powers to close and lock the door to the room as well as turn on the lights, before facing her younger self, "Please stay calm, I know you must have a million questions right now, but it's important you hear what I have to say first," she said calmly and steadily

9YO Lark looked first to the door, then to her older self a look of confusion and amazement on her face, "Your _me_ from the future _aren't_ you!" she said, excitement coloring her voice

15YO Lark sighed and nodded, "Yes I' am, but that's not important right now..." Lark began but was interrupted

"Wow, I've always thought about how one might be able to use crystals to figure out how to travel through time, it would take tremendous energy, perhaps on the level of an Infinity stone and..." 9YO Lark's babbling was cut off and turned into a muffled protesting instead as her older self covered her mouth

 _Wow, this feels like talking to Piper again_ , 15YO Lark thought then shook her head _we really were, perhaps even_ _are_ _so much alike_. To her younger self she said rather sternly, "Look if it will shut you up, I used an Infinity stone to make a wish and travel back here, but _how_ I did it is far less important than _why_ understand?" 9YO Lark nodded, "Good, now I'm going to take my hand away, when I do you will be quiet so I can explain _why_ I'm here got it?" another nod, so 15YO Lark took her hand away and went to sit down, she realized as she was doing it that she was about to sit down on the bed. Even though Annie was no longer there, 15YO Lark couldn't in good conscience sit where for her, Annie had been laying dead not 3 minutes ago, _if this works though, that will_ _never_ _happen_.

9YO Lark noticed how her older self stood up abruptly from making to sit down on the bed, and then switched to the chair, "What's the problem, it's your bed too technically?" she asked

15YO Lark sighed, "Because for me, 3 minutes ago, that was where Annie was lying after being killed by Repton," she explained, to which her younger self's eyes became as wide as dinner plates

"What!?" 9YO Lark exclaimed

15YO Lark nodded, "That's why I'm here, to try and prevent that from happening."

9YO Lark looked at her stunned, then frowned in confusion, "Wait, but then why come so far back, you must be the same age as Annie is now, which means that happens _six_ years in the future, for that matter, why aren't you warning Annie herself?" she asked

"Because it wouldn't make a difference, this is the point that's in flux, it was _my_ decision and therefore _I_ can change it," 15YO Lark explained

9YO Lark looked at her curiously now, "What decision?" she asked

15YO Lark's gaze moved to their workbench, on top of which lay a number of crystal manipulating tools and some crystals, in particular, a set of four green/yellow crystals that gave off an eerie glow. 9YO Lark followed her older self's gaze, staring at the crystals for a moment before turning back to her older self who then spoke, "I need you to destroy those four crystals," she said simply

9YO Lark looked at her incredulously, "What, but those crystals have been such a big help, I'm able to learn so much more when I don't need to sleep, and you've benefited from that too, your living proof that they'll make us stronger!" she exclaimed

15YO Lark waited for her to finish, then spoke, "If you use those crystals, you will force Annie to make a decision that will alter our very reality, a reality that will then follow a series of events that ultimately lead to nothing but war and destruction for Atmos – including Cyclonia – and Annie's death."

Now 9YO Lark looked at her aghast, then gave a dry chuckle, "Yea right, like _one_ decision could be _that_ powerful..." she began, but 15YO Lark interrupted her

"Normally I would agree with you – how could one simple small decision change the entire world – well it did, and _is_ going to, because you see, for most people, small decisions are nothing but ripples in the stream of fate, they can distort its surface for a moment but nothing more. There are people though, in the right time, the right place, people whose lives can affect 100's sometimes 1000's of others, and the choices they make in those lives can have the power to decide who lives and who dies."

9YO Lark stared at her, then at the crystals, "But, I'll fall behind, I won't be able to learn as much," she said distantly

"Is it _really_ worth your life, look at yourself, your running on fumes, your exhausted, and if you keep this up your body is going to break down and Annie will then do _everything_ she can to save you, and while yes that is good and noble of her, the actions she takes to do that cause great harm for us _and_ the rest of Atmos... so is it _really_ worth it?" 15YO Lark asked

9YO Lark's gaze moved to her desk, where two holo-crystals sat, one depicted her and her grandmother about 5 years ago when Lark had first shown how gifted she was at Crystal Magecraft. The other was from much further back, to shortly after Lark had been born, it showed baby Lark swaddled in blankets in her grandmother's arms, next to her grandmother stood Lark's father, a tall and imposing man, the captured look on his face however was one of pride, and in front of him, with his hand on her shoulder stood six year old Annie, Lark's beloved sister, the person who had practically raised her.

Her gaze came back to the crystals, which she proceeded to levitate towards her from the workbench to where she sat on the bed, 15YO Lark watched her carefully, once the crystals were in her lap, 9YO Lark looked at the holo-crystals again, tears brimming in her eyes before closing them and flinging the sickly coloured enhancement crystals against a wall where they proceeded to shatter into a million dust fragments.

15YO Lark let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, then looked at her younger self who was curled up, feet up on the edge of the bed, knees against her chin, tears running down her cheeks. 15YO Lark now overcame her fear of the bed – chances were, the future she knew would _never_ happen now – and sat down next to her younger self before putting an arm around her, pulling her into a hug, comforting her, "It'll be okay now, you'll see, you'll never have to live through what I did." They stayed like that for some time, before 15YO Lark spoke again, "Time for bed, you need your sleep, or this will have all been for nothing," she said and began helping her younger self get tucked in

After that 15YO Lark wasn't sure what to do, she'd thought it was possible she would disappear now her future was no longer relevant, since that didn't seem to be the case, she considered going out to one of the balconies to wait for sunrise. Before she could do that however, 9YO Lark called her back, "Wait, could you stay with me please, I'm scared, I don't want to be alone tonight." 15YO Lark smiled and nodded, for once, it was _her_ turn to be the older sister, even if it was only once

So instead of leaving, she climbed into bed as well and pulled her younger self into her embrace "Good night Lark, sleep well," she said comfortingly to which her 9YO self gave a happy sigh and drifted off to sleep, 15YO Lark was right behind her.

The room was silent except for the breathing of the two girls, one 9 the other 15, next to the bed however stood Discord, smiling down at them, not a smug grin or smirk, just a simple, happy smile, _well played Lark, well played_. As this thought ran through his head the orange light of dawn appeared on the horizon, as the sun rose Discord began to disappear, so too did 15YO Lark, as sunlight claimed the room, the timeline adjusted itself to the new norm, wiping out a future that would now _never_ exist.

* * *

 ** _Several hours later_ **

Lark was awoken by the sound of someone knocking on her door and calling her name, "Princess Lark, your grandmother is calling you down for breakfast," came Lieutenant Ravess's voice through the door. Lark sat up in bed rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the first thing she noticed was that the older version of her was gone, it was also clear that she hadn't got up and left as the covers were not disturbed, _of course, if we successfully changed the timeline, then she wouldn't exist anymore, none of it would, it's all still in flux_.

The knocking came again, _louder_ this time "Princess is everything alright?" Ravess asked

Lark realized she needed to respond "Yes everything's fine, I was just exhausted last night, overslept, tell grandmother I'll be right down," Lark called

On the other side of the door Ravess and Snipe looked at each other in confusion, before shrugging, "Okay we'll pass the message along your highness," Ravess answered, before she and her brother moved away

Lark listened to their footsteps retreating down the hall as she got out of bed and looked out the window at the rising sun and clear sky, _a second chance, to do things_ _right_ _, not many people get that, I'm_ _not_ _going to squander it_ , Lark looked to where the dust from the destroyed crystals had settled last night, a quick bolt of lightning vaporized the pile completely, wiping all trace of the damn crystals from existence, then she got changed into some fresh clothes before heading down to breakfast.

As Lark neared the dining room where she, Annie and grandmother usually had breakfast, she could hear the two of them talking, "Y-you really think I'm... ready?" Annie asked their grandmother

"I believe your getting close, you're certainly your father's daughter, strong, independent, determined and intelligent, I think you'll make a fine Queen Annie, and of course, you'll have your sister by your side to help you should you," their grandmother stated before Lark interrupted her as she walked in the door

"Get into any trouble," she said smirking

Annie and their grandmother turned to Lark, the former with a scowl and the latter with a smile, "You're the one always pulling pranks and yet I'm the one who's constantly blamed for them!" Annie exclaimed

Lark just stuck her tongue out her sister playfully, to which her sister reciprocated, before they burst into fits of laughter, their grandmother just smiled and waited for their mirth to die down before addressing Lark, "Feeling tired this morning?" she asked

Lark gave a sheepish look, "Yea, sorry grandma, guess I was pushing myself a little too hard, I'll be more careful from now on," she explained

Their grandmother just nodded, "Good, I think that should apply to you as well Annie, learning is all well and good, but it isn't worth ruining your health over."

Annie sighed, "Yes grandma." Lark giggled as she sat down at the table to eat breakfast, as they ate, her curiosity got the better of her, "What exactly were you two talking about before I came in? She asked

Annie responded immediately, "I was asking grandmother about the _point_ of the war, and how no one seemed to know the _real_ reason we were fighting it."

Their grandmother sighed, "We can discuss it later you two, we're behind schedule as it is, so hurry and eat your breakfast then it's off to class," she said exasperated

Lark however – for some reason – felt that this was a topic that they should discuss _now_ , "Well I want to know too," she pouted, making it obvious she wasn't going to comply with anything until she got an answer

Their grandmother sighed again, "Fine, as I told Annie, this war has been going on so long that no one remembers the real reason it began, but because of the complexities of war we can't simply turn around and end it, that just isn't done," she stated

"Why not?" Lark asked

"Because there are so many other things that need to be taken into consideration, and when the two of you are leading this Empire you will understand that," their grandmother explained

"Ok so it would take time, but _why_ couldn't that process be started now?" Lark asked

Their grandmother opened her mouth to retort, but then suddenly closed it, as if she had had an epiphany, she then looked Lark directly in the eye, "Why the sudden interest in peace?" she asked

Lark just shrugged, "I just thought... me and Annie have lived our whole lives in this war, same with dad, mom and you, and all its brought us is pain," Lark looked down at the table here, "For me it's different than the two of you, my pain is loneliness, the only real friend I have is Annie, but for once, I'd like to actually _make_ a friend, meet someone else, maybe someone from another Terra and become friends with them, but thanks to this war, I'll probably _never_ do that." As Lark spoke, words echoed in her head, she could hear them, but they were so far away they sounded like they were from another life, _"You can act all tough and destroy the world, but deep down you can't hide what you_ ** _really_** _are, a lonely girl who_ ** _desperately_** _wants a friend"_

The three of them sat in silence for several moments, then their grandmother spoke, "Do you feel the same Annie, do you feel like it's time for a change, for the war to end?"

Lark looked to her sister, her dark violet hair hanging just above her emerald eyes, then she spoke "If the war continues, all its going to bring is more death and destruction, the cycle _has_ to be broken at some point, and _someone_ will have to do it _eventually_ else one or _both_ sides will be destroyed."

Their grandmother sat back and smiled "Well, well, seems you two have grown up, or are well on your way to," she said, then looked at Lark, "We'll talk later about your _dream_ that you had."

Lark looked at her confused, "What dream I never mentioned any..." but her grandmother cut her off

"I may be old my dear, but I can still sense the use of _powerful_ crystals in this tower, I know who visited you last night, and one day we'll tell your sister, but for now, best we discuss it later in private," she said

Lark's eyes widened with understanding, while Annie just looked between them confused, then their grandmother continued, "For now, I do agree with you, I just wasn't sure if the two of you truly felt this way after what happened with your father... so, I'm going to speak with the generals and nobles later today and begin making arrangements for a ceasefire, it's not peace, but it's at least a stepping stone towards that end, and a better future for my brave little birds," she said, smiling at the two of them, "I'm so proud of both of you, and I know you'll make me _even_ prouder."

* * *

 ** _Epilogue (six years later)_ **

Princess Lark and Annie Starling Cyclonis (she'd gotten her name officially changed on her 18th birthday) stood next to their grandmother's grave; beside them were five others and one Lemur-Rabbit. They were Aerrow, Piper, Finn, Junko, Stork and Radar, the new squadron of the Storm Hawks, a Skyknight squadron whose old members – most of whom were parents of the new squad – were due to retire soon. Lark and Annie had met them when their grandmother took them to Terra Atmosia for ceasefire negotiations six years ago, while their grandmother had been in talks, the two Cyclonian princesses had spent the day with Lightning Strike – the then leader of the Storm Hawks – and his family, it just so happened that on that day Finn and Piper had been at the house as well, and Stork and Junko had been invited to come play with them when Lightning had taken the whole group out to the park for a game of soccer. They'd become fast friends, Piper and Lark in particular as both of them were obsessed with crystals. The negotiations though strained had been successful and had ended with a ceasefire between the Cyclonian Empire and the Free Atmos. The two sides had then done everything in their power to keep it that way, even apprehending a Free Atmos terrorist who wanted to restart the war, his name was Ace, and he _was_ Lightning Strike's personal protégé, up until he was caught. For six years the ceasefire held, now the woman who orchestrated it was dead, old age, finally claiming her, Annie was due to be crowned the new Master Cyclonis in the next few days, and she had already decided that the moment she was crowned, she would turn the ceasefire, into peace.

But before that, there was something she and Lark had to do, they looked at one another, silent words being exchanged between them, before nodding and turning to their friends, the Storm Hawks. "Guys, there's something we need to tell you," Annie began

"What is it Starling?" Aerrow asked, preferring to use her middle name (Annie didn't mind, she quite liked it actually)

"Annie and I have a secret," Lark said

"What secret?" Piper replied

Annie and Lark looked at one another again, before saying together, "We changed the future."

The Storm Hawks looked at the two of them incredulously, but before any of them could utter a word, the sisters continued, describing a world _totally_ different from theirs, a world where fate had driven Annie and Lark apart, a world that had given Ace his chance to bring chaos and destruction to those around him, a world where _most_ of the Storm Hawks were orphans, their parents slain at Ace's hand. When they were done, the Storm Hawks had one question, "How did you change _that_?"

The two sisters smiled at one another, "You guys helped, but it's a long story even so,"

The Storm Hawks looked at one another then looked at the sisters, "We've got time."

Lark and Annie both smiled, "Ok then, here goes... the unnamed Terra flashed with light as crystal shots flew back and forth, on one side, the Storm Hawks, aided by Starling of the Interceptors, on the other, the Talons of Cyclonia led by Master Cyclonis herself."

 _And the rest as they say is history._

 _The End_

* * *

 **And there we have it my friends, hope you all enjoyed this, please leave a review if you did, also I've got an idea for a new story that I'll be putting together over the next week, so keep an eye out for that ; )**

 **Next I'd like to thank Clockwork Orange for my first EVER review and for being one of my sources of inspiration for starting to write my own FanFic**

 **I would also like to thank Miss Sophie Starlight for her consistent and hilarious reviews**

 **Finally I would like to thank Omega Infinity as the author who got me interested in FanFics in the first place thanks to his Storm Hawk FanFic "The Strength in Weakness" if you haven't read it yet I seriously recommend you go do so RIGHT NOW!  
**

 **That's all folks, see ya round (Strokes white goatee with glee while waving goodbye) ; )**


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